Name: Ferry Boats
Brand: L S Lowry
Rating: 4.9 (226 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of L S Lowry’s Ferry Boats (signed) is estimated to be worth between £2,450 and £3,700. This lithograph print, created in 1972, has shown consistent value growth since its first sale in March 2005. Over the past 12 months, the average selling price was £1,926, across 3 total sales. In the last five years, the hammer price has varied from £1,900 in October 2023 to £3,600 in September 2022. This work currently demonstrates an average annual growth rate of -1% and has an auction history of 23 total sales. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 500.

Auction Date

Auction House

Artwork

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

October 2023

Dawsons, Berkshire - United Kingdom

Ferry Boats - Signed Print

October 2023

Cheffins - United Kingdom

Ferry Boats - Signed Print

August 2023

Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers - Ireland

Ferry Boats - Signed Print

June 2023

Bonhams New Bond Street - United Kingdom

Ferry Boats - Signed Print

March 2023

Ewbank's - United Kingdom

Ferry Boats - Signed Print

November 2022

Rogers Jones Company, Cardiff - United Kingdom

Ferry Boats - Signed Print

September 2022

Bonhams Knightsbridge - United Kingdom

Ferry Boats - Signed Print

Meaning & Analysis

There were many important events around Lowry’s career during the execution of this painting in 1960; The Lowry Gallery opened in Salford in 1958, in 1959 Lowry had a second retrospective at Manchester Art Gallery and in 1962 he was made a full academician at the Royal Academy. Around all his fame, Lowry still worked as a rent collector and still lived with his mother. Lowry hated celebrity and was uninterested in the limelight. Looking at Ferry Boats it is easy to see that this was more inspired by the lives of others than the fortunes of himself. Lowry focuses on the crowd and composes the picture around the form of a mass of figures, in this instance boarding a ferry. There is some fondness in this picture which is missing from Lowry’s bleaker seascapes. “I’d like to live by the sea” Lowry told Liz O’Donnell, née Fitton in 1961. The punters are dressed colourfully, which is unusual in a Lowry painting and the jolly funnels and sailing ships betray an optimism rarely seen in other works of the period such as Sailing Boats.

Born in 1887, L. S. Lowry was a key figure in 20th century British painting. Known for his distinctive painterly style and 'matchstick men', Lowry aimed to put industry on the map by typically focusing on scenes from his hometown in the North West of England. The naivety of his art drew criticism, yet has stood the test of time with the artist becoming a household name. Lowry has consistently performed in the secondary market, with works such as Going To The Match achieving a value of £2,919,000 in 2021 and the editioned prints remaining highly sought after.