Name: County Court Salford
Brand: L S Lowry
Rating: 5 (234 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of L S Lowry's County Court Salford (signed) is estimated to be worth between £2,150 and £3,200. This lithograph print, created in 1972, has shown consistent value growth since its first sale in April 2010. In the past 12 months, the artwork has sold once at an average selling price of £2,700. Over the past five years, the hammer price has varied from £2,700 in March 2024 to £2,900 in May 2021. The current average annual growth rate of this work is -6%. This work is part of a limited edition of 75.

Auction Date

Auction House

Location

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

March 2024

Wilson55

United Kingdom

May 2021

Wilson55

United Kingdom

April 2010

Bonhams Chester

United Kingdom

Meaning & Analysis

L. S. Lowry’s print County Court Salford shows a view of the court building from the perspective of an onlooker who stands in the street. Much like many of Lowry’s street scenes, the print is framed by buildings on either side and the central focal point is the building in the print’s title.

This is an apparently topographic view of Salford, through the artist’s use of realistic perspective and scale and detailed depiction of the buildings in black ink against white paper. Lowry’s prints like these incorporate much closer detail and elements like shadow on the buildings due to the fact that the medium is limited to a monochrome palette. Even though this scene appears realistic, Lowry adapts the landscape to suit his composition, making the arch on the right much taller than it really was, in order to give it greater prominence.

Lowry’s lithographs like County Court Salford are produced by hand whereby a plate is etched and inked, and the paper is then pressed onto the plate to produce an original. Due to this printing process, no two prints are exactly the same. Editions like these are therefore relatively small, in this case 75, and as a result they are rare and highly sought after items.