"Lost" Lowry For Art Auction

The Guardian reports that a lost L S Lowry fairground scene, hidden in a private art collection for more than 50 years, will resurface at auction this winter, months after another of the artist's fairground paintings set a new world record for his work. The painting, which may show the annual Christmas fair at Beswick which he is known to have sketched, has never been published, and so is not included in any of the standard works on Lowry's art. It has been in the same private art collection since 1950, and was never loaned to any of the recent major exhibitions or the displays at the Lowry Centre in Salford. It was painted in 1938, when the artist, who began taking art evening classes while working by day as a clerk, was 39: the following year he would begin to carve out a national reputation with his first exhibition in London. He would become one of the best loved artists in the country, his distinctive matchstick men style and factory chimney backdrops instantly recognisable. He was appointed the official artist for the Queen's coronation in 1953, and died in 1976 just before a hugely successful retrospective of his work at the Royal Academy. The Fairground, worth an estimated £1m, will be sold at Sotheby's in December along with an iconic Lowry painting of a football match. However the price could easily go higher, as this summer Christie's sold Good Friday, Daisy Nook, another cheery painting of a rare jolly day out for his north country industrial workers, for a record £3.8m. (For full source and full article click the Headline). Irish Art