Going to the Match

depicts the scene of a football stadium before kick-off. We can see countless fans hurrying toward the turnstiles, all coming from the terraced houses and factory chimneys that form the background of the picture. The work is a fine example of the style and subject matter that would gain Lowry widespread acclaim. Lowry was a huge football fan and regularly attended Manchester City matches.

Sold at auction for £5.6 million

The Mill, Pendlebury

the Acme Spinning Company Mill had inspired Lowry to paint his first ever industrial scene, and

27 years later, it was still providing him inspiration. (‘Pendlebury’, in the work’s title, refers to the industrial area outside Manchester where it was located.)

Sold at auction for £2.65 million

Market scene

depicting Pendlebury Market in Salford that was near to Lowry's home. The large crowd includes people from all walks of life, from families to businessmen, suggesting that Lowry captured the market on a busy Saturday, filled with stylised figures often referred to as 'matchstick men'.

The Auction

is Lowry’s only known painting of an auction and it captures the buzz of a saleroom in a manner that only Lowry, with his distinctive iconography, could. The pleasing circularity of the painting’s appearance at auction would no doubt have satisfied Lowry’s wry sense of humour – a case of life imitating art.

Sold at auction for £2.5 million