LS Lowry's painting Sunday Afternoon to go on public display

LS Lowry's painting Sunday Afternoon is to be publicly displayed for the first time in 57 years.

The artwork illustrates a densely populated industrial landscape and shows what Stretford-born Lowry, who died in 1976, described as the "battle of life".

It will go on free display in Christie's London on 13 March before it goes to auction on 20 March.

The auction house said the painting is expected to fetch between £4m and £6m.

The painting was previously sold at Christie's in 1967 for a "record price".

The artwork was obtained from the collection of Keith Showering, who was a former chief executive of Europe's biggest drinks business, Allied Breweries.

Phillip Harley, senior director at Christie's, said: "This important painting has remained in the collection of Sir Keith and Lady Showering since 1967, offering a once-in-a-generation opportunity to acquire a work of this magnitude and scale.

"The composition represents the wonder the artist felt as he recorded his many observations of the evolving society around him.

"We are thrilled to bring Sunday Afternoon back to auction in the Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale."

Born Laurence Stephen Lowry in 1887, the artist depicted industrial life in Greater Manchester through his extensive portfolio of drawings and paintings.

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