
Penny Day
Head of UK and Ireland
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Sold for £26,250 inc. premium
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Head of UK and Ireland

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PROVENANCE:
Acquired directly from the artist by W.E. Johnson, circa 1963
Thence by family descent to the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.
The present work was commissioned by W.E. Johnson because the Customs House buildng was scheduled for demolition as part of the Stockton Town Centre refurbishment. He had always admired the building and felt there should be a permanent record of it.
W.E. (Bill) Johnson was a freelance art historian and lecturer and long time Art Critic for The Northern Echo. He was a well known figure on the North East's art scene and worked for Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham and Leeds Universities, as well as The Open University. He knew Lowry over many years, being instrumental in securing a commission for him from The Friends of Middlesbrough Art Gallery which resulted in Lowry's painting of St. Hilda's Church in Middlesbrough. He was acknowledged as something of a "Lowry expert" in the region as a consequence. Lowry stayed with the Johnson family in Stockton on Tees for a week in September 1958.