LS Lowry painting sold to Guardian literary editor for £10 could fetch £1m

The auctioneer said it was possible to trace the development of Lowry’s signature style from Going to the Mill. Photograph: Lyon & Turnbull

When LS Lowry sold one of his earliest paintings to the literary editor of the Manchester Guardian in 1926, he had an immediate change of heart.

Arthur Wallace had edited a supplement for the Guardian to accompany a civic week organised by Manchester city council in October 1926, and featured three paintings by the then struggling artist.