A LS Lowry painting, which nobody knew existed, has been sold for more than £2.6m.
For more than 70 years, 'The Mill, Pendlebury' was owned by one of the pioneers of DNA research, Dr Leonard D. Hamilton.
But it was only rediscovered following the Manchester-born scientist’s death in August last year.
The painting was estimated to fetch up to £1m but in fact sold to a private collector for £2.65m on Tuesday evening at London auction house Christies.
Mr Hamilton bought the painting in the early stages of Lowry's career and hung it in his room while studying medicine at the University of Oxford.
He took it with him when he moved to the US in 1949, where he went on to make a major contribution to the discovery of the double helix shape of DNA.
Until last year, no one knew it existed, apart from Mr Hamilton, his friends who saw the work, and his family.
Painted by Lowry in 1943, the work is inspired by the mills, factories, chimney stacks and bustle of the country's industrial heartlands.
However it also features clearly defined figures of families enjoying a day out, instead of the hoards of vaguer "matchstick" men in the shadow of the urban landscape that recur in many of his paintings.
Nick Orchard, head of Modern British Art at Christies, said the composition of the painting “just ticks all the boxes”.
“The figures are a lot more differentiated than in other works, although it is not untypical from Lowry's work from this period, but the figures add the emotion to the painting.
“It's about the people and their ease in an industrial setting. It's a happy painting - it has to be a Saturday or a Sunday because the men are not at work, they're pushing the prams.
“The children are not at school, they're playing cricket.”
He added: “It's Britain at play, which is a nice thing to see.”
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Mr Orchard said the painting's history would also have been a draw for collectors.
The most valuable Lowrys are 'The Football Match' and 'Piccadilly Circus', which both went for £5.6m at auction.
Lowry was born in 1887 at Barrett Street, Stretford. In his early years he lived in Victoria Park, Rusholme.
Stretched finances however forced his family to move to Pendlebury in 1909 when he was 22.
The factories and chimneys on his doorstep were the inspiration for his paintings - as shown in the 'The Mill, Pendlebury'.
