An painting by Lowry unseen for many years is expected to fetch between two and three million pounds at an auction at Sotheby’s in London.

Station Approach, painted by the artist in 1960, shows workers making their way across the river Irwell to Exchange Station. The station would close just nine years later, making the scene quickly iconic as it also included in the foreground the statute of Oliver Cromwell which would be moved to Wythenshawe Park in the 1980’s.

The painting has not been seen in public for a generation and is recognised as one of the finest works, on one of the most impressive scales, ever executed by the artist.

According to Sotheby’s catalogue

the painting stands as a rare example of Lowry staying almost true to the architecture before him in this near identical rendering of the view up Victoria Street and on to the remainder of the Victorian façade beyond, which by 1960 had been partially demolished. Instead of the composite landscapes which he typically favoured, drawing together different buildings, roads and monuments to create an imagined scene before him, here the artist pays homage to a cityscape that he was particularly fond of, editing it only very slightly with the addition of the viaduct and the line of buildings to the left hand side of the composition, which he probably drew from the nearby Greengate district. The busy, bustling crowds swell around the large sculpture of Oliver Cromwell, presented to the city in 1875, down Victoria Street, across the River Irwell and on to the station building beyond.

The sale will take place on the 10th June and you can see a short video about the work HERE

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