Lowry’s Romiley Cottage drawing is expected to fetch thousands
AN LS Lowry pencil drawing of a Romiley cottage is expected to fetch up to £12,000 when it is auctioned next week. The sketch of Beech Cottage, Romiley - which measures just seven and a half inches by ten and three quarter inches - was produced by Lowry in 1930 when he was in his early forties.
AN LS Lowry pencil drawing of a Romiley cottage is expected to fetch up to £12,000 when it is auctioned next week.
The sketch of Beech Cottage, Romiley - which measures just seven and a half inches by ten and three quarter inches - was produced by Lowry in 1930 when he was in his early forties.
But despite the local significance, Stockport Art Gallery has ruled out a bid for the picture, when it comes up at Bonhams in London next Wednesday.
Andy Firth, from the gallery, said : "I very much doubt that we will bid for it."
Coincidentally, the jewel in Stockport Art Gallery’s collection, an oil painting titled ‘A Street In Stockport, Crowther Street’, was produced by Lowry that same year.
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The year 1930, when he produced his Romiley picture, was a particularly important year for Lowry. According to the Dictionary of National Biography: "Lowry’s public reputation as an artist began in 1930 when Manchester City Art Gallery purchased An Accident (1926)."
If the picture of Beech Cottage, Romiley, were an oil painting it would be worth considerably more. The current world record for a Lowry painting is £3.77m, paid at Christie’s, London, in 2007, for ‘Good Friday, Daisy Nook’.
When he made the drawing of Beech Cottage, Romiley, Lowry was living at Station Road, Pendlebury and working as a rent collector and clerk in Manchester.
In 1930, Beech Cottage, Romiley, was worth around £590,which was about the average price of a British home.
Lizzie Hill, from Bonhams, said: "This strong drawing of a cottage in the village of Romiley demonstrates Lowry’s fine draughtsmanship and sense of composition. We expect it to attract a lot of interest."