Rare hidden seascape by LS Lowry sells for more than £1m at auction in Yorkshire

While best known for his famous mill town scenes, and capturing the industrial landscapes of a forgotten era, Laurence Stephen Lowry was also fascinated by the sea.

Now an important seascape from 1967, last seen in public view a year after it was painted, has sold for £1,070,381 - inclusive of fees - at Tennants Auctioneers.

The painting came from the private estate of a North West woman, who had bonded with Lowry after meeting him at Morecambe and discovering their "shared love of the sea".

His painting - The North Sea - is described as one of the finest examples of his rare large-scale seascapes, featuring just sea and sky in a "distinctive" five-colour palette.

Lowry would stay for long periods of time at the Seaburn Hotel in Sunderland, art experts at the Leyburn auction house said, and he became deeply attached to the view.

"Here he always stayed in the same room, which looked straight out at the empty expanse of the North Sea, the water and sky melding at the horizon," Tennants explained.

The painting captures his "extraordinary" skill in manipulating the palette, they said, so that what at first glance may appear monochrome soon shows a "deft use of colour".

"Whilst predominantly using his beloved flake white, Lowry has modulated it with ivory black and hints of yellow ochre, Prussian blue, and vermillion," they added.

"Lowry worked up his paintings over many months, gradually adding layer upon layer to create a texture and tone of great complexity and depth that draws the viewer in."

Lowry was said to be fascinated by the sea, which served as a constant source of inspiration and he painted it throughout his life.

As a boy he had often gone on holiday to Lytham and Rhyl, and the majority of his seascapes depict this North West coast, bustling with visitors and scudding boats.

It was from the 1940s that he began to paint "pure" seascapes, featuring nothing but sea and sky. It is these rarer works, art experts said, that capture a sense of the coast's allure.

The painting's previous owner, from the North West, had also long held an affinity with the sea following childhood holidays at St Bees in Cumbria, they added.

After studying to become a classical pianist in Perugia and Paris, she returned to the area to marry, going on to build a successful business with her husband.

It was at Morecambe that she met Lowry, Tennants said, and would later speak of his delight in the simple pleasures of eating an ice cream and visible enjoyment of the seaside.

LS Lowry's The North Sea sold yesterday in the Auctioneers’ Modern & Contemporary Art Sale. Other key works from the estate included two further drawings by LS Lowry - The Pond and Man Taken Ill - and a Henry Moore bronze, while there were works from Tom McGuinness and Braaq.