# James Lawrence Isherwood artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/james-lawrence-isherwood/
Profile generated: 2026-08-24T11:40:07.184Z
Quality: medium confidence, adequate sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: British
- Common media: Painting

## About James Lawrence Isherwood

James Lawrence Isherwood (1917–1989) was a British artist associated most closely with Wigan, Lancashire, where a published biography records he was born and where many of his subjects originated. Public collection records assembled by Art UK document works titled Hereford, River Wye, Old Spanish Lady, Mijas, Spain, Self Portrait, Southport Beach, Wigan versus Hull and “Wigan Arms.” Together, these examples point to a practice spanning local urban and sporting scenes, portraits, coastal and river landscapes, and travel subjects. His manner has been described as Impressionist/Expressionist and given the label “Wigan style,” although the available institutional source pack does not establish either as a formal movement classification. Collectors encounter Isherwood through both public holdings and an extensive auction record. Identification should begin with the object itself—its medium, date, inscriptions, provenance, condition, and relationship to documented works—rather than with the artist name alone.

## Common works and media

Institutional records document Isherwood primarily as a painter. Examples include Wigan buildings and sporting scenes, British river and coastal views, Spanish place subjects, portraits, and self-portraiture. Auction records also classify some entries as works on paper and prints, sculpture or mixed media, and decorative art or editions, but the available source describes category concentration as broad or sparse. Any non-painting attribution should therefore be checked against the object’s medium, signature, inscriptions, edition information, provenance, and closely comparable documented works.

## Market and appraisal context

James Lawrence Isherwood has a substantial record of matched public-auction listings, but individual results should be compared only with genuinely similar works. Medium, size, date, condition, restoration, inscriptions, attribution confidence, provenance, subject matter, and documented exhibition or catalogue history may all affect appraisal conclusions. A Wigan subject, landscape, portrait, print, or other work type should therefore be evaluated within its own category rather than against an overall artist-level statistic. Reported prices may use different treatments of buyer’s premiums and fees. Private sales, incomplete auction feeds, later attribution changes, and works without published prices can also limit what the public record shows.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist-identity research with matched public auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Private sales, incomplete feeds, fee treatments, and attribution changes may not be fully represented.

## Sources

- Art UK: https://artuk.org/discover/artists/isherwood-james-lawrence-19171989
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6137856
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/james-lawrence-isherwood/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lawrence_Isherwood