Displaying items by tag: Lowry Paintings

LONDON — A rare full-length portrait by Gustav Klimt sold for 24.8 million pounds with fees, or about $39 million, at a Sotheby’s auction in London on Wednesday.

Sotheby’s had placed an estimate of £12 million to £18 million (about $19 million to $28 million) on Klimt’s 1902 portrait of Gertrud Loew, the 19-year-old daughter of Dr. Anton Loew, the director of a prominent Viennese private sanatorium that treated fin-de-siècle luminaries such as Mahler, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Klimt himself.

The portrait, which had never previously been offered on the open market, was won by an unknown buyer...

A collection of paintings by L.S. Lowry formed by the U.K. caterer and hotelier, the late Charles Forte, is estimated to raise as much as 16.9 million pounds ($26.2 million) at an auction in London next month.

Lowry (1887-1976) was a Lancashire-born artist best known for his industrial scenes inhabited by crowds of stick-like figures. Forte’s descendants will be offering 14 of these paintings at Christie’s International on Nov. 16, the London- based auction house said today in an e-mailed statement.

Four obscure paintings by 'matchstick man' artist LS Lowry that have spent the last few years in a cupboard have sold for nearly £400,000.

The works - one of them a previously unseen painting - were bought by a husband and wife 45 years ago before Lowry became famous.

They hung the paintings they paid small sums for on the walls of their home - and watched the reputation of the Lancashire artist grow.

After they both died within the last three years, the artwork passed down to their four children, who stored them in a cupboard for safe-keeping until they decided to sell them.

One of the works - of a man posting a letter in a red postbox that was bought directly from Lowry in 1965 - sold for £165,000 at auction.

Although known of by Lowry fans, the oil painting has hardly ever been seen before as it was bought by the couple two years after it was painted.

Another, of a man pulling a cart, sold for £55,000 while one showing a mother pushing a pram through a crowd of people made a hefty £64,000.

A couple's good eye for artistic talent is set to earn their children £500,000 as their collection is auctioned off.

The husband and wife, who have not been named, collected paintings by L.S. Lowry before he was well known.

And now their children are cashing in, as investors flock to the art market as a safe haven for investments.

The couple paid small sums for the Lowry works, and hung them at home for years while the reputation of the 'matchstick men' artist soared.

They both died within the last few years and their works passed to their four children, who have decided to sell them at Morphets auction house in Harrogate, Yorkshire.

A painting of a man posting a letter in a red postbox, which the couple bought directly from Lowry, is said to be worth £200,000.

Although known to fans of the artist, the oil painting has hardly ever been seen before as it was bought by the couple two years after it was painted in the early 1960s.

Another is of a man pulling a cart and is worth £70,000, while one showing a mother pushing a pram through a crowd of people is tipped to sell for £65,000.

Even a basic-looking pencil drawing by Lowry has an estimate of £35,000.