Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A. (1887-1976)

"He loved playing elaborate games. Once we took him to Halifax for the day in order to see an exhibition of his work. When we got back to The Elms he said,
'You don't have a seascape of mine so drop in next week and I'll sort one out.'
In fact several weeks passed before I saw him and when I mentioned the promise he flew into a most odd rage - the only time I saw him 'angry' in nearly twenty years.
'I never promised a seascape... you must not presume on my good nature...' and so on.
Two years passed and I saw him many times with no mention of a seascape. And then one evening I went in and he said,
'Just the man - I've got that seascape ready!'
He went into his studio (the back ground-floor room) and produced a match box on which was painted a white ground and a very small blob A Trawler at Sea - will it do?'
Small in scale, limited in vision Lowry and not up to the mark.'
He made another trip to the back room and this time there were two trawlers on a small piece of card.
'Well you are hard to please. I have a picture under the very chair you are sitting on which I would not dare to show a collector such as yourself. A poor work by an old man.'
The picture was framed, a superb drawing Entrance to the Tyne, and after I bought it I asked to look at the back - labels tell quite a lot.
The notes read Entrance to the Tyne... pencil... personal collection of L.S. Lowry... on loan to the Tate Gallery, Lowry Retrospective Exhibition."