L.S. Lowry’s Sunday Afternoon (1957) will be a highlight at Christie’s Modern British and Irish Art evening sale in London on March 20. The epic and highly populated industrial landscape exemplifies some of the most widely celebrated themes, landmarks and motifs from Lowry’s oeuvre and is raree in a single composition. It is thought to be one of around 12 works created on this, his largest scale. Almost all similar paintings of this size held in museums including The Lowry, Salford; Tate, London; and National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. It has not been exhibited publicly in 57 years and is estimated at £4,000,000-6,000,000. The work is from the collection of Sir Keith and Lady Showering.
Keith Showering’s career was founded on a 300-year-old Somerset family cider making business and the meteoric success of Babycham. By 1975 at the age of 45 Showering was Chairman and CEO of Allied Breweries, Europe’s biggest drinks business, becoming the youngest ever chairman and CEO of a FTSE 100 company. In 1981 he was knighted for services to industry and that same year he took over as Master of the Worshipful Company of Brewers. By the time of his sudden death in 1982 he was on the board of a wide variety of companies and arts organisations.
