LS Lowry painting of Maryport to fetch up to £1 million

The painting of Senhouse Street is by legendary artist LS Lowry who had a long affiliation with the town of Maryport.  

The painting was acquired in 1956 by Geoffrey Bennett, one of Lowry’s closest friends and most important patrons, the year after it was painted. Bennett would have had the pick of Lowry’s work because of their friendship.

Father Bennett was ordained into the Anglican Church in 1962, following which Lowry would address him as the ‘Reverend Gentleman’, and when the artist died in 1976, Father Bennett conducted Lowry’s funeral service.

Lowry used to visit Maryport regularly with Bennett, and Bennett eventually moved to Maryport in the early 1950s.

Painted two years after Lowry retired from his full-time position as a rent collector, the painting sees the artist at the height of his abilities painting a subject of great sentimental and personal interest to him.

The scale of Senhouse Street, Maryport is much larger than the majority of his work, and it lends itself particularly well to the panoramic view, framed by the wall in the lower section, with the rising street and houses either side drawing the eye through the composition.

To create a central focal point, Lowry has placed a signature gas street light in the centre, a subject that features in many of his paintings.

Paintings of known views are much rarer in Lowry’s output, and this view is still recognizable today, with the Queen’s Head Inn eventually becoming the Maryport Maritime Museum in the 1970s.

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Lowry paintings have an enduring appeal for collectors and earlier this year, a drawing of Maryport by Lowry fetched almost £40,000 when it went under the hammer.

The drawing, entitled ‘Church on the Quay’ depicts Christ Church, Maryport which sits on the town’s quayside.

This drawing had a direct relationship to the painting ‘On the Quay, Maryport’ painted in 1954.