LS Lowry's Liverpool on show at Walker Art Gallery
LS Lowry’s evocative painting of the Liverpool waterfront is going on show at the Walker Art Gallery for the first time in more than 40 years.
The Liver Buildings, Liverpool, on display from December 8 on a long-term loan, was painted by the Salford rent collector in 1950.
The painting was last displayed at the William Brown Street gallery in 1973 as part of a Lowry exhibition held to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Liverpool Trades Council.
This time it will be shown alongside two other works by the famous artist, The Waterloo Dock, Liverpool (1962), which is also on loan to the gallery, and The Fever Van (1935), which is part of the Walker’s collection.
And it’s apt that it should be put on display at the Walker, as the gallery – often dubbed the ‘National Gallery of the North’ – was a favourite of Lowry’s.
In addition, The Liver Buildings, Liverpool, was previously owned by AD Fisher, the head accountant at the Aintree-based Vernons football pools company. Fisher and the company’s managing director George Kennerley were interested in Lowry’s work long before he became popular and widely collected, and together they had 33 Lowry paintings.
It currently belongs to a private collector.
Ann Bukantas, Head of Fine Art at National Museums Liverpool (NML), said: “The gallery has been interested in displaying this painting for more than a decade, after we were given an opportunity to examine it closely and carry out further research into it.
“Lowry painted only a small number of Liverpool scenes, therefore this work is very rare. To receive it on long term loan and make it available to our visitors is truly fantastic. It’s the perfect early Christmas present for art lovers in Liverpool and we look forward to hearing people’s responses to the painting.”