Latest news with #ToTheMill
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Lowry painting sold by painter for £10 makes £800k at auction
A painting L. S. Lowry sold for £10 has made more than £800,000 at To The Mill was bought in 1926 by the Manchester Guardian's literary editor, Arthur Wallace, for the equivalent of £520 in today's Stretford-born artist thought he had charged Mr Wallace "too much" and gave him another painting, called The Manufacturing Town, for earlier, Going To The Mill was sold by Mr Wallace's family at a London auction for £805,000. Simon Hucker, the modern and contemporary art specialist for auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull, said the painting was from a time when Lowry was "a virtual unknown". "There are few artists who become a household name in Britain and Lowry definitely falls into this category," he added. 'Rare' Lowry painted Going to the Mill in 1925, 14 years before he achieved fame with a one-man scenes of everyday life against industrial backdrops of Manchester were populated by distinctive simple figures that were the subject of the 1978 Brian and Michael single Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats And Dogs. Going To The Mill features a mill and chimney stack and millworkers in the foreground. It was recently on long-term loan to Pallant House Gallery, Hucker added: "Going to the Mill is the epitome of a 1920s Lowry, the period when he becomes a unique voice in British art. "It is especially rare is for a painting such as this to have been in one collection for one year shy of a century and we are delighted to have played a small part in its history." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
L. S. Lowry painting bought for £10 expected to fetch £1m
A rare L. S. Lowry painting bought for £10 is expected to sell at auction for up to £1m. Going To The Mill was purchased by Arthur Wallace in 1926 for about £780 in today's is believed to be one of the earliest sales of the Stretford-born painter's works. Simon Hucker, from the Lyon & Turnbull auction house in London, said Going To The Mill was from a time when Lowry found his "unique voice" as an artist. The artwork was originally bought by Mr Wallace, the Manchester Guardian's literary editor, who used it to mark Manchester Civic Week, celebrating the city's industrial To The Mill is marked on the back as costing £30, but Lowry agreed to sell it for the reduced price of £10. Recently on long-term loan to Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, the painting has been in the Wallace family for the last Wallace's grandson Keith Wallace said: "Lowry said with great daring: 'Could we say £10?' and Grandpa wrote a cheque."Then Lowry wrote back to him saying: 'I think I've charged you too much. Can I give you another one as well?"So Grandpa got two Lowrys for his £10."In a letter to Mr Wallace from 1926, Lowry wrote: "Many thanks for your letter and cheque for £10."I am very glad Mrs Wallace likes the picture Going to Work and take the liberty of asking you to please accept The Manufacturing Town as a souvenir of the Civic Week."The painting is expected to sell for between £700,000 and £1m when it goes for auction at Mall Galleries. Additional reporting by The Press Association. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
