Lowry nobody knew about

The work, dating from the Thirties when Lowry honed his distinctive matchstick-men style, has been in the same family for nearly 60 years.

It had never been detailed in a catalogue or exhibited until the owners presented it for sale.

Called A Fairground, the picture is one of two works by Lowry to be auctioned by Sotheby's on 13 December.

The other is The Football Match, which dates from 1960 and shows the crowd at a game against a backdrop of factory chimneys. It is also expected to make about £1 million.

They are among the most important and accomplished works by Lowry to have come on to the market.

James Rawlin, head of 20th century art at Sotheby's, said: "Even though they're from different ends of his career, I think both show exactly what is interesting about Lowry as an artist."

While he loved crowds, colour and heritage, Lowry rarely depicted a fair in his work.

Experts believe A Fairground might be related to a drawing of Beswick fair he made between 1929 and 1930. Lowry often carried out preliminary studies that were not turned into paintings until years later.

Beswick was an industrialised area east of Manchester city centre where a fair was held every Christmas.

The setting for The Football Match is likely to be a composite.

Mr Rawlin said: "By the late Fifties/early Sixties, he was tending to create astonishing imagined panoramas that used the people, buildings and locations from a lifetime's experience."

Lowry, immortalised by Brian and Michael's 1978 hit song Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs, is now a very collectable artist.

In June, Good Friday, Daisy Nook set a new record for a Lowry of £3.8 million when it was sold at Christie's.

Mr Rawlin said: "He is increasingly seen as a major figure by the commercial art world."