LS Lowry was convinced his paintings would be worthless after his death, he confided in a previously unheard interview.<\/p>\n
Although the artist had enjoyed some success in his final years, Lowry could never have imagined he would become one of Britain\u2019s best-loved artists or that his paintings would sell for millions of pounds.<\/p>\n
Going to the Match, his 1953 painting of crowds of spectators streaming into a football stadium, sold for \u00a37.8m in 2022.<\/p>\n
Half a century after his death, he is now being portrayed by Sir Ian McKellen in a BBC documentary, LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes<\/a>, which draws on a trove of previously unheard audio recordings.<\/p>\n Described as \u201cthe last words of a great artist\u201d who was an intensely private man, McKellen will lip-sync his dialogue.<\/p>\n In the tapes, the artist is heard to say: \u201cSome day, you may be walking down some street and look into a junk shop window. You\u2019ll see a picture upside down, marked cheap, 30 shillings. And it\u2019ll be mine.\u201d<\/p>\n Going to the Match sold for \u00a37.8m in 2022. Photograph: Karim Sahib\/AFP\/Getty<\/p>\n From 1972, over a period of four years, Lowry gave his longest, most revealing interview to a young fan, Angela Barratt. She died in 2022 and the tapes remained hidden in her Manchester<\/a> home. They have never been broadcast until now.<\/p>\n Lowry bared his soul to her. He confided that his family and friends had teased him about his paintings. \u201cI made no money,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople laughed heartily at them \u2026 All my friends used to joke about it: \u2018How\u2019s the art trade?\u2019; \u2018Are you making your fortune out of it?\u2019; \u2018Don\u2019t be such a fool, why don\u2019t you give it up?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Lowry had enrolled at the age of 17 for evening art classes. On selling his first painting, he said: \u201cIt was in 1921. And I got the sum of \u00a35 for it. I was 34 \u2026 My family got the shock of their lives when I sold it. They couldn\u2019t believe it was possible I could sell anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether his mother liked his paintings, Lowry replied: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so. And me father [who worked as a clerk for an estate agent] used to have hysterics if I sold a picture. He couldn\u2019t understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n Lowry became disheartened: \u201cI was often very, very fed up. I said what\u2019s the point of doing this, many a time.\u201d<\/p>\n LS Lowry (played by Ian McKellen) bared his soul to Angela Barratt, a young fan (played by Annabel Smith). Photograph: BBC\/Wall to Wall Media\/Connor Harris\/PA<\/p>\n