The public last saw the LS Lowry painting 57 years ago
LS Lowry’s painting Sunday Afternoon has sold at auction for almost £6.3m.
The work, which had not been publicly exhibited since 1977, was expected to fetch £4m-£6m at Christie’s Modern British And Irish Art sale.
It was last sold in 1967, realising a record price for the artist, and was offered from the collection of Sir Keith and Lady Showering.
The 1957 painting, of a densely-populated industrial landscape, fetched £6,290,000, including a buyer’s premium
It is the second highest price achieved for Lowry at auction, after his 1953 painting Going To The Match sold at Christie’s in October 2022 for £7,846,500.
The artwork shows what Stretford-born Lowry, who died in 1976, described as the “battle of life”.
It had been on display for a week at Christie’s.
‘Once-in-a-generation’
The painting was obtained from the collection of Sir Keith Showering, a former chief executive of Europe’s biggest drinks business, Allied Breweries.
Phillip Harley, senior director at Christie’s, said its sale was a “once-in-a-generation” event.
He said: “The composition represents the wonder the artist felt as he recorded his many observations of the evolving society around him.”
Born Laurence Stephen Lowry in 1887, the artist depicted industrial life in Greater Manchester and produced more than 1,000 artworks across his lifetime.
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