Oxford Road, Manchester, 1910 (oil on canvas)

An impressionistic, smog-ridden view of Oxford Road, Manchester. The view is looking towards the city centre with the Refuge Assurance building (now the Palace Hotel) under construction in the background to right, beyond the railway bridge which spans the street to the left. There is a motor car in the foreground to the left beside a crowded pavement, and buildings with smoking chimneys lining the road to the right. Valette's most successful impressionist painting, this view of Oxford Road looks towards the city centre. The Refuge Assurance Building (now the Palace hotel) can be seen in the background on the right with its new tower still under construction. The painting shows Edwardian Manchester as a busy and changing industrial city, with pedestrians, horse-drawn and motor vehicles all pushing their way through the thick smog. 'Oxford Road' received favourable press comment when first exhibited in Liverpool in 1910. This probably encouraged the artist to produce further works in the same vein.