LS Lowry painting sells for £5.6m

By Robert James Pollock

A staggering sum of £5.6m was paid for a painting by Stretford born artist LS Lowry at Christies Auction in London on Wednesday night.

The painting, completed in 1960, depicts Piccadilly Circus in London and the astronomical sum makes it the joint most expensive painting by the artist.

The sale matches the record set by the sale of Lowry’s The Football match in May of his year.

Claire Stewart, curator of the LS Lowry Collection in Manchester, expressed no surprise at the fact such a figure was reached.

“There are relatively few Lowry paintings of London and given the sheer size of the piece it is understandable why it would generate such an interest. The Market for Lowry’s is certainly strong and news such as this can only boost the healthy attendances we enjoy at The Lowry,” said Ms Stewart.

The Piccadilly painting was part of a collection of 14 of his works- The Lord Forte Collection of Paintings by TS Lowry- that went under the hammer.

The 30 by 40 inch painting was expected to reach in the region of £6m and the figure paid by a private buyer lived up to the huge estimate.

The collection as a whole sold for a whopping £17,668,250 illustrating the strength of the market as Ms Stewart pointed out.

Ms Stewart hopes that Piccadilly Circus may some day be displayed in The Lowry in Manchester but all will depend on how generous the mystery owner is.

“We do occasionally get loans of Lowry’s from time to time and obviously to have this on display would be great. You just never no,” said Ms Stewart.

The collection had previously belonged to Lord Charles Forte the former restaurant and hotel magnate.