Antiques Roadshow fans were left confused and annoyed at one guest’s reaction when being told their valuable Laurence Stephen Lowry (L.S Lowry) painting was valued for a staggering price.
During a classic episode of the BBC series, Fiona Bruce and her team of experts were at the historic Stonor Park in Oxfordshire, where treasures included a little brooch with a big history, tribal spears from the South Pacific, ancient carvings from the Indian subcontinent and an intriguing wooden carving with a mysterious past.
However, Lawrence Hendra was left “nervous” when sitting down with one guest who brought in a 20th-century painting from L.S. Lowry, and on first look explained: “So whenever I see a painting brought to me by Laurence Steven Lowry I should get very excited.
“But to tell you the truth I get a bit nervous because not only was Lowry a distinctive and popular and valuable British artist in the 20th century, but he was also one of the most faked.
“But before we come to that, why don’t you tell us how it came to be in your possession.”
The guest began: “I was buying an antique bicycle and I got it for way below what its value was and so I had some cash, I walked around the consequence of that was I found that.
Lawrence Hendra was left nervous when valuating the painting
BBC
“I was a teddy boy and it looks like a teddy boy and if he hadn’t been a teddy boy then tough. Anyway, I brought it home and my son said, ‘How did you get on with your bicycle Daddy?’
“And I said I got it, he said, ‘Well done you, what’s in the little parcel? What is it?’ I said ‘It’s a Lowry, it’s a little painting’.”
The guest revealed that he bought the painting for around £1,300, and left Hendra to continue: “So Lowry is an interesting artist, he is popular for all the right reasons, and not least because he was an artist of the people.
“He was painting the scenes he saw around him, he didn’t care what people thought about them, he faced all sorts of criticism, people said the arms and the legs were too long when the boots were too big.
Lawrence was excited to delved into the history of the painting
BBC
“His first exhibition wasn’t until 1939 and it wasn’t until he retired as a rent collector in 1952 that he actually started painting full time, but he was hugely popular and he just painted what he saw.”
He added: “Totally unpretentious and that’s why I think a lot of people are drawn to his work, he painted pictures of people but they weren’t portraits, they weren’t studies of character, they were more studies of where his surroundings.
“In terms of value, now, I think if you are painting were to come up at auction I would expect to see it sell for a figure in the region of £60,000 to £80,000.”
The guest let out a surprised giggle and replied: “I like the sound of that. Okay, thank you.”
The painting was done by L.S Lowry
BBC
Viewers watching the episode thought his reaction was underwhelming as one X user commented: “Ok, thank you? Is that it? If I had been told I was holding onto that much money I would have screamed.”
Another added: “All that money and all he can say is an ‘Ok thank you’… I’m so disappointed.”
However, one user defended: “People saying that he didn’t react enough?… He’s an old man of course he’s not gonna hop skip and jump.” (sic)