Rarely seen LS Lowry painting expected to sell for up to £3m
Depiction of workers walking to railway station was painted in 1960 and has not been shown in public for a generation
Detail from LS Lowry's Station Approach, Manchester. Click on magnifying glass to see full image. Photograph: Sotheby's
An important but little seen painting by LS Lowry of workers heading purposefully to Manchester Exchange railway station is to be sold at auction with an estimate of £2m to £3m, the auction house Sotheby's said on Tuesday.
Station Approach, Manchester was painted in 1960 and exhibited the following year in London, but has not been seen in public for a generation. Frances Christie, Sotheby's head of modern and postwar British art, said the painting was one of the most exciting Lowry works to emerge on the market in recent years. She added: "Lowry was a master at portraying the energy and vitality of everyday life and in Station Approach, Manchester he captures the hustle and bustle of the crowds heading home after a hard day's work – it is a superb example of Lowry at his very best."
The painting shows a scene that no longer exists. The workers are heading to the London and North Western Railway Exchange station, built in 1884 and closed in 1969. The statue in the foreground is of Oliver Cromwell, presented to the city in 1875 and moved to Wythenshawe park in the 1980s as part of the city centre's redevelopment. It was clearly something close to Lowry's heart and he chose to produce a smaller version of the painting for the Royal Academy of Arts to mark being made a Royal Academician in 1962.
It will be one of the star items at Sotheby's modern and postwar British art auction on 10 June.
