Lowry painting fetches 10x its asking price at auction

A picture co-painted by LS Lowry has sold for ten times its estimate at an auction in Cumbria.

The Mottram artist collaborated with his friend of 40 years, Reverend Geoffrey Bennett, to paint a scene of Rockcliffe Church, a few miles to the northwest of Carlisle in 1964, where Rev Bennett was the vicar. 

It was the Reverend who created most of the picture, painting the church and trees, while Lowry added his distinctive figures to the foreground. 

Expected to reach between £2,000-£5,000, the picture eventually fetched £23,500 after a bidding war at Mitchell's Auction Company in Cockermouth on September 12. 

Lowry and Rev Bennett met while both were bank clerks in Manchester and bonded over a love of painting. Lowry studied at the city’s Municipal School of Art under his mentor Adolphe Valette. 

The duo remained close friends until Lowry’s death, with the Reverend officiating at his funeral in 1976, and his collection of Lowry paintings – including a portrait - selling for more than £500,000 after Rev Bennett’s own passing in the 1990s. The proceeds went to the restoration of Carlisle Cathedral and an impoverished clergy fund. 

Although born in Stretford, Lowry lived the latter part of his life in Mottram from 1948, where there is statue on a bench close to his old home.