Berwick Upon Tweed
Berwick Upon Tweed
Signed Print
L S Lowry
£5,000-£10,000Value Indicator
$10,500-$21,000 Value Indicator
$9,000-$18,000 Value Indicator
¥50,000-¥100,000 Value Indicator
€6,000-€11,500 Value Indicator
$50,000-$110,000 Value Indicator
¥990,000-¥1,990,000 Value Indicator
$6,500-$13,500 Value Indicator
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
56 x 43cm, Edition of 650, Lithograph
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
TradingFloor
Auction Results
Track auction value trend
Meaning & Analysis
Showing a portrait composition of a street scene, Berwick Upon Tweed is a print from 1973 by L. S. Lowry. The scene is viewed from a high point, possibly from a set of stairs implied by the brick wall in the bottom left corner of the print, and the print is compacted with town buildings that follow the street up to a vanishing point.
Lowry was a regular visitor to Berwick-upon-Tweed, a town in Northumberland, producing more than 30 paintings and drawings of the town. This depiction of the town is typical of Lowry’s stylised realism, with a cluster of his ‘matchstick-men’ populating the foreground of the print. Berwick Upon Tweed is a casual scene, showing the figures going about their daily business; chatting in groups, walking their dogs, and taking a trip to the shops.
Much like many of Lowry’s town scenes, this print is depicted in a limited palette of muted colours. Elements of humour and caricature can be seen in the print, but Berwick Upon Tweed is largely characterised by what art historian John Rothenstein called “a kind of gloomy lyricism.” Lowry often claimed to use just five colours in his paintings, vermillion, ivory black, Prussian blue, yellow ochre and flake white.
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.
