Works by two very different northern-English artists, David Hockney and LS Lowry, are to cross the block at Bonhams London on May 29.
Lancashire-born Lowry (1887-1976), famous for his stylised paintings of the industrial North, and Yorkshire-based Hockney, whose colourful canvases are among the most desired artworks in the world, are to go head to head at the London summer sale.
 Will Lowry’s Agecroft Regatta beat the £121,250 ($184,512) word record price paid for a work in pencil by the artist? |
Lowry's 1942 pencil drawing Agecroft Regatta, featuring the annual, northern sporting spectacle between Agecroft Rowing Club and the Manchester University Boat Club leads offerings by the artist.
Expected to achieve £70,000-100,000 ($110,000-150,000), the ambitious pencil drawing depicts dozens of Lowry's trademark "match-stick men".
In November 2011, a new auction record for a Lowry pencil drawing was set by Swinbury Station when it brought £121,250 ($184,512) to Bonhams London, suggesting collectors are keen to invest in works by the much-exhibited artist.
 David Hockney's abstract Love Painting |
Hockney's Love Painting, a 1959 oil on board offering rare insight into a critical stage in Hockney's artistic development, is estimated to be worth between £80,000 ($120,000) and £120,000 ($180,000).
Hockney remembers: "I did a few pictures… that were based on a kind of mixture of Alan Davie cum Jackson Pollock cum Roger Hilton".
An early canvas by the artist, Tyger Painting No. 2, sold for £106,400 ($161,931) at Sotheby's London in February 2004.
Art remains a strong and competitive market: five Samuel Peploe paintings brought $1.5m to Bonhams earlier this month, while Swann Galleries' forthcoming prints sale is set to get collectors' pulses racing in New York.
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