Tate Liverpool
14 October 2006 – 9 April 2007
L S Lowry’s masterpiece painting The Liver Building 1962 will be exhibited at Tate Liverpool as part of a special Lowry in Liverpool Focus Room, situated within the DLA Piper Series: International Modern Art display. Recently auctioned at Christie’s, The Liver Building 1962 was sold to a private collector for £1.2 million – the second highest price ever paid for a Lowry work.
The Focus Room, at the start of the display, offers a more intimate look at the work of a particular artist. The forgotten masterpiece by L S Lowry, The Liver Building 1962, will form the centrepiece of a special Focus Room devoted to the artist. Set to become an iconic image of Liverpool, the painting depicts the city’s distinctive skyline and is unusual because most of Lowry’s cityscapes were of Manchester and Salford. This is a unique chance to see a painting that has only been seen once before in public, at the WalkerArtGallery in 1973.
The Liver Building 1962 is complemented by other rarely seen paintings and drawings of Liverpool, as well as works of other subjects from private collections in Liverpool. Lowry had a distinctive style, using a basic palette of colours, and often populating his urban landscapes with his famous ‘matchstick men’. Lowry’s combination of observation and imaginative power produced images which capture a deeply felt experience of place, with which everyone can identify.
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary’s generous support has ensured the continued success of DLA Piper Series: International Modern Art, which opened at Tate Liverpool in 2003 and has continued to go from strength to strength. This semi-permanent display presents a snapshot of work from the extensive Tate Collection, giving Tate Liverpool visitors a unique opportunity to experience the rich and varied stories of modern art over the last century. With an ever-changing list of art works, each telling their own story, few visits to DLA Piper Series: International Modern Art are ever the same.
The display is arranged chronologically from 1900 to now and divided into five sections, each of which focuses on a specific theme or art movement. Painting, sculpture, photography, video and installation are featured by a range of artists from Edgar Degas through to Grayson Perry.Many have not been shown in Liverpool before, and have been selected to reflect the variety of the Tate Collection. With over 600,000 visitors a year passing through the doors of Tate Liverpool, DLA Piper Series: International Modern Art offers a unique and accessible way to see many important works of modern and contemporary art by some of the world’s most famous artists.