Here at ROCCIA, our whole team share a real passion for all thing’s tiles. Our love of tiles is so strong that we have a truly stunning mosaic of Lawrence Stephen Lowry’s ‘Going To The Match’ painting sitting pride of place in our Bolton showroom.
In this article, we will take a closer look at the ‘Going To The Match’ mosaic, detailing the inspiration behind using this particular piece in our showroom and giving you a flavour of just how much time and effort went into the creation of this masterpiece.
The History Of The Painting
Lawrence Stephen Lowry was born in Manchester on November 1st 1887. He is one of the most famous British painters of the 20th Century. In 1953 LS Lowry won an art competition created by the Football Association. His winning painting ‘Going to the Match’ became the most famous painting in football, showing fans going to Bolton Wanderers old ground, Burnden Park. The original painting is owned currently by the PFA who bought it for a record £1.9 million in 1999 and is displayed at The Lowry along with a preparatory pencil sketch.
Following it’s purchase, PFA Chief Executive, Gordon Taylor said: “Lowry did show an interest in the game. We wanted to keep it in the north west, where he came from, and we wanted it to be on display to the public.
“It represents the heart and soul of the game – the anticipation of the crowds going to the match.”
We at ROCCIA were inspired by the artist’s dedication to the local area and chose this particular painting to be the centrepiece at our Bolton tile showroom. The mosaic currently sits next to our signed Bolton Wanderers shirt above the entrance to our store.
How Was The Mosaic Made?
It’s fair to say that the finished product truly is the culmination of hours of hard work, 324 hours to be precise. The mosaic was created by 20 highly-skilled craftsmen in Italy over the course of 6 weeks. In total, the mosaic is made with over 85,000 individually cut glass mosaic pieces, and the whole piece comes in at an impressive 3.8 metres x 2.4 metres.
To witness this stunning piece of artwork in all its glory, why not pop down to our tile showroom in Bolton and see this for yourself? One of our tile experts will be on hand to give you even more information about our incredible mosaic, as well as all the information you could ever need about our vast range of tiles, bathrooms and kitchen.
