Adolphe Valette

Adolphe Valette, a French born artist who spent much of his working life in Manchester, is known today both as the teacher of L. S. Lowry and as the creator of a remarkable series of Impressionistic paintings of Edwardian Manchester. These large, impressive canvases depict the streets and waterways of an industrial city cloaked in its smog-ridden atmosphere. They present a fascinating image of a burgeoning commercial centre in its heyday, clinging to its Victorian past but eager to embrace the modern world. Valette was a shy, modest man dedicated to his art, but who did little to promote his own interests. He was, by nature, a keen observer and realist and this, combined with his exceptional understanding of light and instinctive feeling for tone, enabled him to produce works of great clarity and delicate luminosity. This innovatively designed selection of his work, complete with details, comparative images and a definitive text on his life, provides a wonderful introduction to a much neglected artist.