A RARE oil painting by British artist Lawrence Stephen Lowry could be sold for more than £100,000 when it is auctioned in September.

The painting by the famous 20th Century artist was discovered in a house in Liverpool, only 35 miles from Manchester where it is likely to have been painted.

It is expected to achieve £120,000 to £180,000 when it is sold at Duke's Auctioneers, Dorchester, on September 17.

A spokesperson for Duke's said: "The clients selling the picture were aware of Duke’s being in Dorchester as they had heard we had sold many other major works of art and as we have a consultant working for Duke’s in the Liverpool area the connection was made.
"It is unusual that such an important Lowry is being sold outside of both London and the North in what is comparatively a very small and rural county against the usual Lowry industrial townscapes of Manchester and Liverpool. It provides a nice contrast."

The painting which is little more than the size of an A4 piece of paper, belongs to a small group of single figure studies produced on a plain background. 

L.S. Lowry’s busy industrial townscapes scattered with ‘matchstick’ figures are iconic making this painting especially significant as it is relatively plain in comparison.

Lowry produced more than 1,000 paintings in his lifetime but of these, only a handful of single figure studies are known.

He is believed to have produced an even smaller number of rare studies of girls wearing mini skirts.

The painting being offered at Duke’s of Dorchester is said to be the best mini skirt painting ever produced by Lowry.

The small oil painting, bearing the all important Lowry signature and dated 1968, depicts a full length side profile of a young girl walking against a cold Northern wind – she walks with her head bowed, wearing a black coat with red hood and hem and baring slender long legs.

A Spokesperson for Duke’s added: "The use of red was atypical for Lowry. Look at most of his landscapes and they are dominated by grim grey and brown tones – hardly any of his female studies use the colour and here, it lends the painting a strong identity especially when contrasted to the murky plain background.

"The viewer really feels the cold Northern winter wind that must be blowing against the figure’s bare legs. It is a simple image yet one which perfectly captures the moment that Lowry saw the girl.

"When compared to his typical ‘matchstick’ studies of the human form, this painting of a girl in a mini skirt is imbued with a sense of movement and admiration of the female form."

The remarkable painting was executed at a time when women were walking the streets of Liverpool and Manchester and embracing the liberated 1960’s fashions – bright colours, mini skirts and highly patterned fabrics would have dominated the high street.

For an artist who grew up constrained by Victorian ideals, the image of the ‘modern woman’ would have been fascinating.

The painting has been exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool as well as at the Tate Liverpool making the provenance of the work unrivalled.

A spokesperson for Dukes's added: "Genuine oil paintings by L.S. Lowry are hugely popular at auction but to find one which is such an unusual subject for the artist and with such a high calibre provenance is fantastic. We expect the interest at the £120,000 to180,000 estimate to be high."