LS Lowry’s The Football Match Painting
Having not been seen in public for almost 20 years, The Football Match, 1949, by Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A. (1887-1976), has sold for £5.6 million ($9.1 million). An exceptionally rare depiction of one of Britain’s most popular sports, football (soccer), by one of the country’s most iconic British artists, was bought at 20th Century British & Irish Art, an auction at Christie’s in London (26 May), setting a new world record for the artist.
Christie’s described the painting as a modern masterpiece. Lowry, who died in 1976 at the age of 88, was known for his simple depictions of working-class life. He painted largely in his spare time while working for the Pall Mall Property Company in Manchester, but still achieved recognition during his life.