Great Ancoats Street
Great Ancoats Street
Signed Print
L S Lowry
£1,450-£2,200Value Indicator
$3,000-$4,550 Value Indicator
$2,700-$4,050 Value Indicator
¥14,000-¥21,000 Value Indicator
€1,650-€2,550 Value Indicator
$15,000-$23,000 Value Indicator
¥290,000-¥440,000 Value Indicator
$1,950-$2,950 Value Indicator
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26 x 36cm, Edition of 850, Screenprint
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
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Meaning & Analysis
Rendered in black ink against white paper, Great Ancoats Street is a screen print from 1930 by L. S. Lowry that shows a street corner from a slightly elevated view. Making this print distinctly Lowry, is the inclusion of his ‘matchstick-figures’ wandering throughout the scene, young and old, to emphasise the human presence in this otherwise topographical depiction of the street.
Great Ancoats Street shows the worn-out working class Manchester area of Ancoats, a place that was characterised from the 1980s as a notorious slum. Lowry worked as a rent collector for the Pall Mall Property Company and this led to him walking everywhere in the city, taking in many sights and experiences. He would come into contact with those who lived in areas like Ancoats who could not afford to pay their rent and evidently Lowry was compelled to capture their lives through his art.
Lowry wonderfully captures this gloomy scene of industrial life in Britain through the sketchy quality of the print. The smoke that comes from the chimneys seems to merge and seep into the scene as a whole, giving the street a dirty and run-down atmosphere. His figures in the foreground also appear isolated and are depicted as products of their poor environment.
Born in 1887, L. S. Lowry was a key figure in 20th century British painting. Known for his distinctive painterly style and 'matchstick men', Lowry aimed to put industry on the map by typically focusing on scenes from his hometown in the North West of England. The naivety of his art drew criticism, yet has stood the test of time with the artist becoming a household name. Lowry has consistently performed in the secondary market, with works such as Going To The Match achieving a value of £2,919,000 in 2021 and the editioned prints remaining highly sought after.
