Skip to content

Lowry's Cumbrian views fetch more than £100,000

Mitchells Auctions The oil painting of the scene believed to depict the Sir John Barrow's monument on Hoad Hill in Ulverston. It is black, grey and white, showing the outline of the monument on top of a distant hill.Mitchells Auctions
Lowry's "lonely landscape" of Sir John Barrow's monument sold for £43,000

Artwork by LS Lowry depicting Cumbrian views has been auctioned for tens of thousands of pounds.

Eight of his pieces went under the hammer at Mitchells Auctions in Cockermouth, alongside two "extraordinary" Lake District paintings.

Seven of the Lowry works sold separately for a combined amount of £117,200, the auction house said.

James Moore, of Mitchells, labelled the sale "an absolute belter".

A huge Julian Cooper painting of Scafell Crag also sold for £7,000, and a Bill Peascod canvas went for £5,000.

Mitchells Auctions "Maryport - The Estuary", a pencil drawing by LS Lowry. It is is sketch form, showing a street curving round a waterway with boats outlined. There are houses, churches, a bridge and distant hills in the drawing, along with telegraph poles, people and a dog.Mitchells Auctions
Lowry's Maryport - The Estuary, portrayed a scene in the west Cumbrian coastal town

Lowry, who died in 1976, is known for his depictions of working-class life in industrial parts of northern England.

His oil painting depicting Sir John Barrow's monument on Hoad Hill, Ulverston, known as "the lonely landscape", sold for £43,000 on Thursday.

His 1960 pencil drawing named Maryport - The Estuary finished at £37,000.

Mr Moore said: "We're really pleased. As an auctioneer you always want them to go for more, but it's the best sale we've had this year.

"We've had quite a few local Lowrys come on the market. It's nice as everyone likes art with a good local story, especially with Lowry's reputation."

Heaton Cooper Studio A spilt of two pictures. On the left is Julian Cooper painting Scafell Crag in 2001, and on the right is Julian Cooper with the painting 20 years later in 2021Heaton Cooper Studio
Julian Cooper painting Scafell Crag, and with the painting more recently

Cooper's Scafell Crag was first unveiled by Tony Blair at the opening of the Rheged Discovery Centre, near Penrith, in 2001.

Commissioned by the Mountain Heritage Trust (MHT) in 2000, the giant artwork – 13ft (3.9m) high and 10ft (3m) wide - celebrates mountaineering and the role of the Lake District in the birth of rock climbing.

It was hung in Rheged's entrance atrium for 20 years before being moved to the Heaton Cooper Studio in Grasmere.

The piece was sold by the MHT to raise funds, along with Peascod's signed 1983 painting of Birkness Combe, near Haweswater.

Mitchells Auctions The painting uses lots of white brushstrokes with a cliff jutting out of the centre.Mitchells Auctions
Bill Peascod's signed 1983 painting of Birkness Combe, near Haweswater

"Both are extraordinary bits of work," Mr Moore said. "Scafell Crag is the biggest piece we've ever had in our hall.

"When we went to collect it we couldn't get it in our van and had to get a contractor to transfer it.

"It's absolutely colossal, but every time I walk past it I notice something else about it.

"I would love to own it - if it fitted in our house."

Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].

More on this story
Related internet links