British and Irish Art Articles

By Lara Grieve

Laurence Stephen Lowry R.A. (1887-1976)
The Liver Buildings, Liverpool
signed and dated 'L.S. LOWRY 1962' (lower right)
oil on canvas
23 x 34 in. (58.4 x 86.4 cm.)
Sold for £1,072,000
London, June 2006



Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A. (1887-1976)
A Quarrel
signed and dated 'L.S. LOWRY. 1935' (lower left), signed again and inscribed '"A. Quarrel"/L. S. Lowry' (on a label attached to the stretcher) and inscribed again 'The Quarrel' (on the stretcher)
oil on canvas
21 x 15½ in. (53.3 x 39.4 cm.)
Sold for £512,000
London, June 2006



Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A. (1887-1976)
Procession in South Wales, Whit Monday
signed and dated 'L.S.LOWRY 1963' (lower left), inscribed 'PROCESSION IN S.WALES, WHIT MONDAY'
oil on canvas
20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm.)
Sold for £321,600
London, June 2006

Three decades have passed since Lowry died at the age of 88 and he continues to be one of the most widely known 20th-century British artists. His industrial landscapes are often composite images created partly from his imagination.

However, in The Liver Building, Liverpool, Lowry has remained faithful to the view across the Mersey. It is one of three Lowry paintings from a selection of works from the collection of the late Robert Sangster to be included in the sale of 20th Century British Art on 9 June.

Painted in 1962, this large-scale oil masterpiece depicts the iconic Liver Building, designed by Walter A. Thomas in 1908 for the Royal Liver Friendly Society. When the building was completed in 1911, it was Britain's first skyscraper, standing 90 metres tall and built using a revolutionary steel and concrete structure. Lowry has also included the Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building, standing to the right on the skyline, a number of ships, and some strolling figures in the foreground.

The frieze-like receding planes of the composition are typical of Lowry's technique, giving the viewer a panoramic perspective of this work, which combines an industrial landscape, a seascape and a peopled scene in front. One figure stands very distinctly alone, looking across towards the Liver Building, another Lowry trademark. He was fascinated by the psychology of groups of people-how you could be surrounded by a number of people and yet remain distinctly solitary, like this lonely girl.

The other two Lowry works from the Sangster collection also explore how figures relate to each other. Another solitary figure stands at the centre of the immediate foreground in A Quarrel, looking at a fight that has broken out in the street. A number of other people appear to be drawn to the two men having the disagreement. 'Where there's a quarrel there's always a crowd,' Lowry said,'It's a great draw.A quarrel or a body.' It is possible that this altercation is a result of a disputed transaction in the shop behind them, with its generic sign 'DEALER' over the doorway.

Painted in 1963 against a flake white background, Lowry has portrayed another group of people, dressed in their Sunday best, walking in an orderly fashion in Procession in South Wales, Whit Monday. The gaggle of children at the front are the only ones not stepping out in time with each other. Lowry commented, 'I see lots of people everywhere, myself, one lot going one way and the other lot going the opposite way as a rule. I sometimes wish I didn't see folk everywhere.'

Robert Sangster (1936-2004) was born in Liverpool, the son of Vernon Sangster, founder of Vernons Pools, and his wife, Peggy. The family business was just down the road from Aintree racecourse, and Sangster would become one of the bestknown racehorse owners in flat racing. He acquired his first racehorse in 1967 and at the age of 39 he joined with Vincent O'Brien and John Magnier to build the business that is now the Coolmore Stud in Tipperary. Sangster won 28 European Classics and was champion owner five times. His famous blue, green and white silks won more than 100 Group One races, including two Derbies with The Minstrel (1977) and Golden Fleece (1982), and The Breeder's Cup Mile, the Melbourne Cup and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

In keeping with this personal interest in racing, Sangster's collection also includes three pictures of Epsom by Raoul Dufy, to be offered at 22 June's sale of Impressionist and Modern Art Works on Paper. The bustle, vivacity and almost short-hand depiction of the figures in Le Derby à Epsom, 1933, appear superficially to echo the Lowrys, yet here the black and white that so often dominated Lowry's depictions of the North is replaced by Dufy's frenetic Fauvism in a cosmopolitan celebration of a day at the races.

Lara Grieve is a Specialist in the British and Irish Art Department, London

Article appeared in the May/June 2006 issue of Christie's Magazine