LS Lowry painting sold for £350k in Isle of Man auction

A single £350,000 bid saw the LS Lowry painting bought by new owners

A painting by LS Lowry has been sold for £350,000 on the Isle of Man, raising a third less than what auctioneers had expected.

A single bid came in for The Street With Many Steps as it went under the hammer in Douglas.

It came before the start of the auction, with no higher offers coming from those in the room.

Chrystals Auctions had hoped the piece would fetch between £500,000 to £700,000.

The Salford artist's 1961 streetscape has been on the island for the last 40 years, having been sold by Chrystals in 1980 to a woman from Laxey.

It was auctioned off at the time by John Keefe, whose son Murray repeated history when he oversaw the sale of the Lowry to new owners on Wednesday.

Before bidding began he told the room: "We have had interested from all over, London, the north-west, and especially the Isle of Man."

Trying to encourage higher bids, he said: "I do not think an opportunity like this would normally come along at that price."

The piece was finally sold without contest for £350,000.