The Lowry houses the largest public collection of works by L. S. Lowry in the world, with over 400 works, 57 of which are oil paintings. Alongside these is an archive containing thousands of items ranging from photographs to press cuttings and exhibition catalogues. Both the collection and archive were formed by Salford Museum & Art Gallery, with many acquisitions being donated by or purchased from Lowry himself – a testament to the long and close relationship between the artist and the museum. It is partly as a result of this relationship that the Lowry Collection covers such a broad range of subject matter, style and media, as well as representing all periods of the artist’s career, from life studies made at art school to drawings completed in the early 1970s. In 2000 the collection, still owned by Salford City Council, was transferred to The Lowry, a multi-arts venue at the heart of the regeneration of Salford Quays and one of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Landmark Millennium Projects for the arts.