4th Mar, 2023 9:30 GMT/BST
Modern & Contemporary Art
23
Laurence Stephen Lowry RBA, RA (1887-1976)
"The Stepped Street"
Signed and dated 1929, pencil, 38cm by 27.5cm
Provenance: Phillips London, Tuesday 4th June 1991, British, Irish, Traditional Modern and Contemporary, lot 63
"The Stepped Street", 1929 is a superb example of Lowry’s mastery of drawing and comes from a golden period of productivity, creativity and artistic energy which formed the foundation of his successes to come . Shortly after leaving Art School in 1928, Lowry’s father suggested he sketch the nearby soon to be demolished St Simon’s Church in Salford and indeed a few days later the building was razed to the ground. This began Lowry’s search to record other locally threatened architectural gems such as Crowther Street, which was later partially demolished leaving only the right hand portion seen in the drawing which has since been restored. "The Stepped Street" is not a preparatory sketch for an oil painting, here Lowry gives us a detailed, complete, stand-alone and fully formed work in its own right in which he enjoys including many of his signature motifs, dogs, children, prams, smoking chimneys, porches and people in all their shapes and sizes make an appearance if you look hard enough…. In addition Lowry is also indulging his love of Steps as subject matter for his work as he says himself…
‘Steps and things ... I liked doing steps, steps in Ancoats ... steps in Stockport ... steps anywhere you like, simply because I like steps and the area which they were in was an industrial area. I did a lot, you see. I've never found it interesting to paint pure landscapes. I'm not interested in pure landscapes'.
- L.S. Lowry
©. Jonathan Horwich, January 2023
Sold for £70,000
Estimated at £50,000 - £80,000
The work is stuck onto the backboard of the mount. Pin holes to each corner. Slight time staining/oxidisation to the paper, most noticeable to the sky. Very slight cockling to the paper upper right. Feint, sporadic small sized foxing spots in evidence. In particular but not contained to areas of the sky. Small brown mark to the right of the top writing on the large sign, upper left. A more pronounced foxing spot within the dark grey right edge next to the window, a scattering of tiny slightly more pronounced spots, three next to the man lower left corner, a handful within the centre of the railings on the 4th step up. See additional images. For further information please contact the Picture Department.
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Auction: Modern & Contemporary Art, 4th Mar, 2023
Two drawings by the masterful L.S. Lowry are on offer in our Spring Modern & Contemporary Art Sale, "The Stepped Street" and "The Sea", which span Lowry's artistic career and represent to of his overriding interests: the streets of Greater Manchester and the Sea. Also on offer is a fine work by Australian artist Arthur Boyd, a good selection of Northern Art by the likes of Braaq, Arthur Delaney and Stuart Walton, Canadian Art, sculpture by Sally Arnup, Lorenzo Quinn and David Wynn, and a good offering of prints by L.S. Lowry, Henry Moore, Edward Bawden, Bob Dylan and Billy Connolly.
Viewing
Thursday 2 March 10am-4pm, Friday 3 March 10am-5pm and morning of sale from 8am
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