A FREE exhibition titled Come See Our Etchings is at a North-East art gallery.

The display, at Hartlepool Art Gallery, in Church Square, runs until Sunday, April 18.

Pride of place goes to a pencil drawing of The Front at Hartlepool by LS Lowry, which was completed in 1969.

Other notable drawings in the exhibition of work owned by Hartlepool Borough Council include a 1962 portrait of the Hartlepool author of Whisky Galore, Edward Compton Mackenzie.

There is also an anonymous engraving of St Hilda's Church, which is inscribed 1800, although it is unlikely the print dates from that period. The background features ships apparently making use of docks that were only opened in 1840.

Claire Munroe, of the council's arts and museums service, said: "The exhibition encompasses a rich and wide variety of creative talents from different periods and highlights the methods artists use to achieve their visual effects."

The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturdays, from 10am to 5.30pm, and Sundays, from 2pm to 4.30pm.

Published: 06/03/2004