The Lowrys’ Director of Visual Arts has shared his excitement ahead of this Thursday’s planned return of ‘Going to the Match’ after £7m successful bid.
After twenty years of having this painting on display in the gallery, the painting has had to be returned to their owners in order for it to be sold in auction.
Earlier this month, representatives from The Lowry successfully bidded £7.8m, courtesy of the Law Family Charitable Foundation, and the painting is set to return this Thursday.
The piece had been on loan to The Lowry from the Professional Footballer’s Association (PFA) since 2000. The organisation’s decision to sell ‘Going to the Match’ posed no guarantees that any future owners would share The Lowry’s commitment to keep the work on public view and free to access.
Director of Visual Arts at The Lowry, Michael Simpson, said: “I’m delighted that The Lowry has managed to acquire Lowry’s Going to the Match for Salford’s Lowry Collection.
“We did it with a major gift from the Law Family Charitable Foundation, who shared with us a desire to see this iconic painting on permanent view, for free, for everyone.
“It’s easily Lowry’s most famous and popular work and it’s wonderful to have it back.”
Mr Simpson is very passionate about his work and appreciates L.S. Lowry for his unconventional artistic style.
Many critics have described Lowry as a ‘Sunday painter’, which Mr Simpson says is “utter rubbish. As a man with anti-establishment values, these critics “were exactly the sort of establishment figures, art world figures, who he hated”
Mr Simpson said: “Actually, when you see the displays, you see loads of life drawings, he did have models. He’s a really, really good artist, he could absolutely draw the figures the way he did.
“A way to put him down was to say, ‘Oh, he’s just a Sunday Painter’, but actually he went to art school. He was trained as most other artists. He could draw conventionally really well, including drawings of people.
“He chose to do his paintings the way he did, because it worked better for him.”
Lowry is renowned worldwide for his industrial landscapes and mill scenes, but his work covers a wide range of different subjects including portraits, seascapes and surreal imaginings.
Mr Simpsons interest in Lowry was triggered by the Lowry quote: ”You do not need brains to be a painter, just feelings.”
He followed: “I love that about Lowry, as a curator you want, more than anything, for anybody who walks around the art galleries, you want them to feel something, even if they really hate a painting, fantastic!”
See more about the exhibition here https://thelowry.com/about-us/ls-lowry/lowrys-life/
Recent Comments