Lowry collection nets £15m at London sale

A collection of works by LS Lowry sold for £15.2 million ($25 million, 18.2 million euros)at a London auction, with a painting of Piccadilly Circus topping the night's bidding at £5.1 million. The oil paintings belonged to Cambridge businessman and collector Tony Thompson, who died last year. The Sotheby's sale saw 13 paintings go under the hammer. "We are delighted with the results of tonight's sale, which reflect the superb quality of the works that Tony Thompson collected so carefully over the course of three decades," said Frances Christie, Sotheby's Head of Modern & Post-War British Art Department. "His instinct to hone in on the very best examples of the artist's work generated the enthusiastic response in the sale room. "Underlying this evening's success was notable international bidding for an artist who is typically considered to have a particularly British appeal," she added Thompson's sister Dawn Saddler explained that her brother developed a love of the Manchester artist during childhood. "He just loved Lowry -- the man and the paintings," she said. "As the obsession grew he collected and collected. "He was a simple man, just like Lowry."