There was genuine widespread sadness across the city earlier this year when it was announced the famous 'Going to the Match' painting could be lost from The Lowry gallery in Media City. The Professional Footballers Association (PFA) needed to sell it for its own causes putting LS Lowry's masterpiece at risk of going overseas.
But thankfully after interventions from politicians, arts leaders, and a very generous donation from the Law Family Charitable Foundation, the painting's home was confirmed as The Lowry for good after a successful £8.1m purchase. The 1953 painting depicting football fans arriving at Burnden Park, the former home of Bolton Wanderers, was officially welcomed back yesterday (November 24) with a drinks reception in the Compass room at the Lowry theatre.
There was a warm buzz in the air as members of staff, volunteers, and dignitaries, were able to see the painting in all its glory. This was followed by musical performances from Bolton's own Badly Drawn Boy and The Lightning Seeds best know for Three Lions . This was particularly apt for the night as 'Going to the Match' came home while England's footballers try and bring the World Cup home from Qatar.
READ MORE: Lowry's iconic 'Going to the Match' masterpiece has finally come home
This reception came as an exhibition officially opened today (November 25), which is free for the public to see the 'Going to the Match' painting back in The Lowry gallery, along with LS Lowry's other famous works. Michael Simpson, director of visual arts at The Lowry gallery, told the Manchester Evening News how great it was to have the painting back where it belongs.
"The PFA generously lent it to us for 22 years but decided for all sorts of reasons to put it out for auction to use that money for their own charitable use," he said. " So it went to auction at Christie’s (London) and when a picture goes to auction really you don’t know what’s going to happen to it, it could end up anywhere.
"What we did is do a lot of talking to the media, to collectors, to people we knew would want to see the picture stay at The Lowry, in Salford, and luckily we had a very generous benefactor who was prepared to subsidise us a certain amount so we could actually bid at auction and myself and a couple of colleagues went and fortunately enough we got the winning bid. It was a fantastic moment but it was slightly surreal because it was millions of pounds of someone else’s money on a picture. We sat there and had the winning bid but thought, what do we do next? But later on in the evening it hit home and we were delighted."
Mr Simpson added that it was great for it to be joining the rest of the Lowry collection in the gallery, which he described as being "owned by the people of Salford". " Lowry wanted to paint every day life. He wanted to paint ordinary people leading ordinary lives, going to the park, going to the beach, or going to a match," he added.
"These were the days in 1953 when all the matches were at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon, people would finish work at 1pm, go for a pie and a pint before going to the match. It’s typical of Lowry, he’s not interested in the football match, that’s in the background, what he’s interested in is people like you and I just enjoying that moment, that anticipation, as you’re walking up to the ground. A lot of people can see themselves in the picture it could easily be any of us that feature in that work and that’s Lowry’s great strength."
As well as being on display at the Lowry for the next few months, there are now plans to take the painting 'on tour' around the 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester. It is estimated the painting has been seen by about 100,000 people a year since it has been on public view, which means that millions must have viewed it since 2000, when the gallery opened.
Nick Brooks-Sykes, director of tourism at Marketing Manchester, told the MEN just how important this painting is for the city region. " From a tourism perspective it adds to the rich landscape of opportunities people have when they come to Manchester and Salford as a short break destination," he said.
"If you’re a football fan you’ll want to go to the national football museum as part of the experience of watching City and United play and you’ll also want to come to the Lowry art gallery to see the whole collection to do with football. I t’s great to be part of tapestry that we can offer football fans but more broadly it adds to the rich and unique landscape of a cultural offering we have in Greater Manchester bringing lots of people who are interested in the arts not only to the arts centre here but to see paintings like this which are part of our history and heritage."
Julia Fawcett OBE, CEO of The Lowry, said: “We passionately believed Going to the Match needed to remain on public view. Its safe return to our Galleries, thanks to the wonderfully generous gift from The Law Family Charitable Foundation, will be a huge moment for Salford, and we cannot wait to bring it home."
Paul Dennett, Salford’s City Mayor, added: “This painting was created in the north and belongs in the north and thanks entirely to the generosity of the Law family it is coming home to Salford where it should be. It is so important to have this iconic piece of art on view to the public for generations to come and I'm delighted to welcome it back.”
For more of today's top stories click here.
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