Council To Flog Lowry Art

A painting by LS Lowry is to be sold off by a local council, it was confirmed today. Bury Council in Greater Manchester will put the art, A Riverbank, up for auction at Christie's in November. The picture, worth an estimated £500,000, will plug a gap in the council's budget, which is facing a £10 million shortfall. Painted in 1947, it was bought by the council in 1951 for £175 directly from the artist's agent. The council said the sale is essential to maintain and improve services for local people. Lowry, who died in 1976, at first suffered disdain from the artistic establishment for his paintings depicting townscapes created by the Industrial Revolution, often showing skylines of smoking chimneys and streets teeming with "matchstick" people. For the full story - click the title Irish Art