LS Lowry: Man to auction painting 40 years after father

A Manx auctioneer is set to repeat history by selling an original LS Lowry painting which was sold by his father on the island 40 years ago.

Murray Keefe will oversee bidding for The Street With Many Steps, which John Keefe sold to a local woman for a world record price in 1980.

He said the executors of the estate thought it was fitting given his family link.

Chrystals Auctions expect the painting to sell for more than £500,000.

The sale will take place on 15 September at the Nunnery in Douglas.

The painting was rediscovered by Mr Keefe last year as he was clearing a house in Laxey while acting for the executors of a local family.

"I went upstairs and there it was, hanging on the bedroom wall. I was quite surprised really," he said.

"Nobody told me it was a Lowry, but they had said there were significant artworks in the house."

First painted in 1961, how the Salford artist's streetscape came to the Isle of Man remains unknown.

It first appeared for auction at the Ramsey Mart in 1980, where it was sold by Chrystals to a local woman from Laxey.

The work changed hands for what Mr Keefe said was a world record price of £21,500, beating bids from dealers from the UK.

"There was a great big hoo-ha about it because most of the London trade who deal with modern British art flew in to see it and make bids," he said.

Details of the owner have not been shared, other than she was a hotel owner in Blackpool who moved to the island later in her life.

The Lowry has stayed in the family for the last 40 years and will now be auctioned once again by a Keefe.