22 February 2026

LS Lowry

Celebrating LS Lowry

To celebrate LS Lowry, the BBC will broadcast a new landmark documentary, fifty years after the artist’s death, which draws on a treasure trove of previously unheard audio recordings of the artist. Over a period of four years from 1972, Lowry gave his longest, most revealing interview to a young researcher and fan named Angela Barratt. Until her death in 2022 the tapes remained hidden in her Manchester home and have never been broadcast until now. The celebrated actor, Sir Ian McKellen, will lip-sync Lowry’s dialogue, described as “the last words of a great artist”, in LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes to be released on Wednesday 25^th February on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. From the comfort of his own living room, we will hear from Lowry himself, taking us from the beginning of his life to the very end, revealing formative memories and experiences that shaped him as an artist and as a man. This immersive documentary will foreground the charming exchange between the intensely private and enigmatic Lowry, played by McKellen, and his young interviewer, played by Annabel Smith.

 

Richard Green has bought and sold over four hundred paintings by LS Lowry since the mid-1970s, and has enjoyed watching the success that the artist has achieved worldwide. We have always considered him to be the ‘Old Master’ of the future, with his unique observations of 20^th century British life and unrivalled ability to portray an evocative and compelling composition. His insight and sensitivity towards family life and human relationships in general, is a constant throughout his art.

 

Click here to view paintings for sale by LS Lowry

 

LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes will be released on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on Wednesday 25^th February.

 

 

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