17th Jun, 2023 9:30 GMT/BST

Modern & Contemporary Art

 
  Lot 29
 

29

Laurence Stephen Lowry RBA, RA (1887-1976)
"Tug"
Signed and dated 1959, oil on panel, 19cm by 17.5cm

Provenance: Picadilly Gallery, London
Clarendon Gallery, Manchester, where purchased by the vendor's father in 1976
Thence by descent

"Tug" is a fine example of a work inspired by Lowry’s love of the North Sea and was probably painted on one of his extended holiday stays at the Seaburn Hotel, Sunderland. Here from his hotel room (always the same room) with his easel set up by the window, Lowry could look straight out to the North Sea which obligingly offered up its wide empty skies, with ships and boats bobbing about on the near or far horizons, all feeding Lowry’s imagination and inspiring him to paint. The tug itself feels tiny on the vast grey sea, however Lowry has given it strength and determination as it battles its way across the composition from right to left leaving an impressive trail of black smoke in its wake as it powers against the tides. Lowry puts the little tug front and centre in the composition and it stands out against the distant more anonymous shipping in the background seemingly giving it the strength to perform all its seaborne tasks in spite of its lack of size.

We are grateful to Jonathan Horwich for his assistance with this catalogue entry.

Sold for £84,000
Estimated at £60,000 - £90,000


 

Some light surface dirt. A small fine arc shaped area of craquelure to the right of the top edge, approximately 2.5cm in length. Slight rubbing to the outer edges of the board. An area of pitting? within the front of the black boat lower right approximately 1cm in size. Time staining to the mount. Some light surface dirt and debris trapped under the glass. The painting is glazed and has not been examined out of the frame.

 


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Auction: Modern & Contemporary Art, 17th Jun, 2023

Modern and Contemporary Art Sales offer a broad range of paintings, prints, drawing and sculpture from the 20th and 21st centuries. The sales specialist in Northern Art, with a strong representation of Modern British artists.

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Thursday 15th June 10am-4pm, Friday 16th June 10am-5pm and the morning of the sale from 8am

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