This small oil is part of a series of city paintings Hanley created during the 1970s. Feeling short of subject matter, Hanely travelled to Sheffield to experience the industrial northern towns and cities. Compared to the wide-open landscape of Wales and Hertfordshire, Hanley was struck by the rows upon rows of identical houses lining the dense streets. The ‘brick forests’ within Urban Landscape III fill the canvas, stretching far into the distance amongst towering chimneys from nearby factories. Hanley’s elevated viewpoint captures the vastness of the metropolis, the houses rising and falling across the landscape like boats moving with the swell of the sea. His familiar pale tones of greys, pinks and greens have a yellowed haziness to them, reflecting the thick industrial air. Akin to Lowry’s ‘lonely landscapes’, Hanley’s lack of figures also suggests an enigmatic solitude, while holding a quiet and reflective fascination of this newly encountered landscape.