CHRISTIE'S TO SELL LOWRY PAINTING FOR ESTIMATED £3.5 MILLION

HAVING NOT BEEN SEEN IN PUBLIC FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS, THE FOOTBALL MATCH, BY LAURENCE STEPHEN LOWRY, R.A. WILL BE OFFERED AT AUCTION ON 26.MAY IN CHRISTIE'S SALE OF 20th CENTURY BRITISH ART. AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE DEPICTION OF ONE OF BRITAIN'S MOST POPULAR SPORTS, FOOTBALL, BY ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST ICONIC BRITISH ARTISTS, THE PAINTING IS A MODERN MASTERPIECE. THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR, THE FOOTBALL MATCH HAS AN ESTIMATE OF £3.5 MILLION TO £4 MILLION, SETTING A NEW BENCHMARK FOR THE ARTIST'S WORK AT AUCTION. REFLECTING THE INTERNATIONAL APPEAL OF LOWRY, THE FOOTBALL MATCH, WHICH WAS PAINTED IN 1949 AT THE HIGH POINT OF THE ARTIST'S CAREER, TOURED TO LONDON, AMERICA AND PARIS BEFORE ENTERING A PRIVATE COLLECTION IN 1950, WHERE IT REMAINED FOR OVER 40 YEARS. THE LARGE FORMAT CANVAS, MEASURING 28 x 36 INCHES, IS IN EXCELLENT ORIGINAL CONDITION. IT PROVIDES COLLECTORS, INSTITUTIONS AND DEALERS WITH A VERY RARE OPPORTUNITY AS IT COMBINES THE ARTIST'S HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE, PEPPERED WITH ROOFTOPS; CHIMNEYS FULL OF BILLOWING SMOKE; HOUSES AND STREETS SCENES WITH INCIDENTAL DOMESTIC MOMENTS, AND TEAMS THIS WITH MAGNETICALLY PULLING THE VIEWER OVER THE ROOFTOPS, THROUGH THE DEEP CROWDS GATHERED ON THE SIDE-LINES, THROUGH THE GOALPOST AND INTO THE MIDST OF THE FOOTBALL MATCH ITSELF, AND THEN BEYOND. LOWRY WAS A KEEN FOOTBALL SUPPORTER HIMSELF, HIS TEAM WAS MANCHESTER CITY. HE EXPLORED THE SUBJECT OF GOING TO, OR BEING AT A FOOTBALL MATCH, SEVERAL TIMES, BUT NO OTHER WORK PROVIDES THE ENGAGING PANORAMIC BIRDS-EYE VIEW DEEP IN TO THE ACTION ON THE PITCH, THROUGH SUCH EXTENSIVE CROWDS, WITH THE GREATER, HIGHLY DETAILED CONTEXT OF THE HOMES AND FACTORIES, FLANKING ALL FOUR SIDES OF THE PITCH, WHICH ARE CENTRAL TO THE LIVELIHOOD OF THE SUPPORTERS DEPICTED.