Lowry’s Wick steps painting set to fetch over £500k in sale
AN L.S. Lowry painting of Wick that has emerged from a private collection is expected to sell for over £500,000 in an upcoming auction.
Bonhams will be selling the painting ‘Steps at Wick’ in their next sale of modern British and Irish art on November 20 in London’s New Bond Street.
The oil on canvas painting had been kept in a private London collection for 20 years, and it is thought it could go for as high as £800,000 because of Lowry’s massive following.
The image and occasion of the painting is commemorated with an engraved plaque of the painting at the site of the steps in Wick.
It reads: ‘This is the original site where L.S. Lowry painted Black Steps, Wick in 1936.’
Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887 to 1976) used to holiday in Scotland during the 1930s. He was born in Stretford, Lancashire, and is famous for painting scenes of life in the industrial districts of north-west England in the mid-20th century.
He is particularly recognised for his trademark ‘matchstick men’ represented in desolate industrial and urban landscapes.
The steps pictured in ‘Steps at Wick’ were part of Thomas Telford’s 1809 scheme for the new town plan of Pulteneytown for the British Fisheries Society.
The Black Stairs were part of Telford’s original plan for Pulteneytown linking the residential area above the bank, via Lower Dunbar Street, to the harbour below. The steps were, however, not begun until the 1820s.
Their name, The Black Stairs, appears to be a local, popular one as it does not feature in Telford’s plan.
Penny Day, of the Modern British and Irish Art Department at Bonhams, said: "We are privileged and delighted to be offering such an important, striking Lowry which has not been available for over 20 years.
"With the market for the artist stronger than ever and alongside the interest in the current Tate exhibition, we expect collectors will seize the opportunity to acquire this early tour de force."