A rare painting by acclaimed British artist LS Lowry depicting rugby league fans heading to a match is expected to sell for up to £3 million (approximately $3.7 million) at a prestigious London auction next month. The artwork, titled "Going To The Match" and painted in 1928 by the Salford-born artist, will go under the hammer at Christie's auction house on October 22.
The 1928 work captures crowds making their way to an unidentified rugby league match and is believed to show either supporters of Lowry's local team, the Salford Red Devils, or fans of the nearby Swinton Lions. This painting represents one of only two works by Lowry that feature rugby enthusiasts, making it exceptionally rare within the artist's extensive catalog of industrial and sporting scenes.
The significance of sporting themes in Lowry's work became evident in 2022 when another painting with the same title broke world records for the artist. That 1953 piece, which depicted bustling crowds of soccer fans gathered at the former home of Bolton Wanderers, sold for nearly £8 million, establishing a new benchmark for Lowry's market value.
Nick Orchard, head of modern British and Irish art at Christie's, emphasized the importance of these sporting works in Lowry's portfolio. "Lowry, who was a great observer of human life, and a lover of sport, found great inspiration in the crowds that would mass to sporting events, particularly football, rugby and cricket," Orchard explained. He noted that while Lowry also documented workers traveling to and from factories and mills, "in the sporting paintings, which are much rarer, he was able to capture the people of Manchester at rest, enjoying going to follow and cheer on their local teams."
The upcoming Modern British and Irish Art evening sale will showcase several other notable Lowry works from private collections. Among these is "Industrial Landscape," completed in 1957 and valued between £250,000 and £350,000 ($310,000-$435,000). The auction will also feature two additional pieces: "Bourton-On-The-Water" from 1947 and "A Footbridge" from 1938, both estimated to sell for between £400,000 and £600,000 ($497,000-$745,000) each.
The "Bourton-On-The-Water" painting holds particular significance as one of the few works Lowry created depicting the Cotswolds region, marking a departure from his typical industrial Manchester scenes. The Lowry arts venue in Salford has already expressed interest in the piece, with Orchard revealing that the museum "has asked if the buyer of the Bourton-on-the-Water work would loan it to the arts venue, as it would be the only painting to represent his time in the Cotswolds on display in their museum."
This auction continues to demonstrate the enduring appeal and increasing market value of LS Lowry's work, particularly his rarer sporting scenes that capture the social fabric of early 20th-century industrial England. The sale represents a significant opportunity for collectors to acquire works that showcase different aspects of the artist's observational genius, from his iconic industrial landscapes to his more intimate portrayals of community leisure activities.
