Lowry painting fetches £555,000

A painting by LS Lowry fetched more than £500,000 when it was sold at auction.

The Hawker’s Cart was sold at the request of The Royal Scottish Academy at a sale in Edinburgh for £555,000. The money raised will be used to set up an endowment fund to buy key works by Scottish artists in the future.

Lancashire-born Lowry is best-known for his depictions of industrial districts of Northern England. The painting is typical of his distinctive style, showing “matchstick men” in an urban landscape.

The painting was selected for sale as part of the RSA’s “rationalisation” programme to create funds for new acquisitions.

The Academy, an independent body of artists and architects, is Scotland’s earliest artists’ collective and is not directly dependent on public funding.

Arthur Watson, secretary of the Royal Scottish Academy, said: “We are delighted with the result.”