Lowry's Glasgow Docks for auction

LS Lowry's Glasgow Docks Enlarge Image

A rare painting by LS Lowry is to go under the hammer to raise funds for a Scottish art collection.

Glasgow Docks was painted by the Manchester-born artist, famous for his depictions of industrial life, in 1947.

The work is being sold at the end of the month by The Fleming Collection, the largest collection of Scottish art in private hands.

It is hoped the £150,000 to £200,000 sale price will secure the future of the Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation.

Bustling docks

The charity looks after the Fleming Collection, started in 1968 by a London merchant bank founded by Robert Fleming.

It aims to raise the profile of Scottish art, which it says is poorly represented in museums and galleries outside Scotland.

The sale will take place at Lyon and Turnbull in Edinburgh on 28 November.

A spokesman for the auction house said: "Glasgow Docks is a rare and important depiction of the port area of Scotland's biggest city.

"The composition is typical of the artist's Lancashire-based work with an elevated viewpoint that enabled Lowry to take in the bustling docks in their entirety."

Last year, Glasgow City Council bought another of Lowry's paintings for almost £200,000.

The 1947 painting Cranes and Ships depicts Glasgow's Prince's Dock.

It will hang at the new Riverside Museum, due to open at the end of 2008.

Lowry was born in 1887 and died in 1976.