LS Lowry rugby painting could fetch £3m at auction

Going to the Match (1928) is thought to be LS Lowry's first work of its kind

A rare example of LS Lowry's distinctive paintings featuring sports fans is expected to fetch up to £3m at auction later.

The Salford artist made a series of works entitled Going to the Match, with perhaps his best known piece showing Bolton football fans heading to Burnden Park being sold for almost £8m in 2022.

A 1928 painting of the same name is now set to go under the hammer at Christie's in London.

Thought to be the first of its kind, it features a crowd heading to a rugby league game, believed to depict a derby match between Salford Red Devils and the nearby Swinton Lions – which were both local to Lowry.

Christies' Alice Murray told BBC Radio Manchester they were "thrilled" to be able to sell Going to the Match - along with three other works by Lowry.

Lowry's best known Going to the Match shows Bolton football fans heading to Burnden Park

"This piece is particularly special to us and so exciting because it's the first known sporting depiction that Lowry painted, and only one of two that he did of a rugby subject so in that sense it's a real rarity," Ms Murray said.

"It really captures Lowry's enduring fascination with collective ritual – but we also obviously have his beloved industrial landscape in the background there."

Ms Murray explained that the red scarves and flags displayed by fans in the painting, together with the opposing blue scarves, probably indicated the Salford vs Swinton derby match.

"It's an incredible painting and we are incredibly excited to have it with us today," she added.

The Modern British and Irish Art sale, which begins at 18:30 BST, also features other Lowry works from private collections - including one of his few paintings of the Cotswolds, Bourton-on-the-Water, which could soon be appearing on display in Salford.

The Lowry in Salford has asked if the buyer of the 1947 Bourton-on-the-Water work would loan it to the arts centre, "as it would be the only painting to represent his time in the Cotswolds on display in the museum".

The 1947 piece is being sold alongside A Footbridge from 1938, with both valued at between £400,000 and £600,000.