TWELVE pictures Ð including works by Gainsborough, Lowry and Lear Ð which were owned by the actor Sir Alec Guinness are expected to fetch up to £377,000 when they are auctioned by SothebyÕs at two sales in London on November 29 and December 5.

Sir Alec died in August, 2000, aged 86. He and his wife, the artist Merula Salaman, made their home in Petersfield for more than 40 years.

They bought Kettlebrook Meadow at Steep Marsh in 1951 and there they built a house. At first they used it as a weekend retreat but later it became their permanent home. The most valuable of the dozen pictures Ð which used to adorn the walls of Kettlebrook Meadows Ð is a 1954 painting by the world-famous Manchester-born matchstick men artist L S Lowry (1887-1976).

The picture, titled The Viaduct, is expected to fetch up to £120,000.

Sir AlecÕs collection comprises: five works by Lowry; two by Gwen John, sister of Augustus John; a picture by Augustus John; a drawing by Dame Elisabeth Frink; a Thomas Gainsborough drawing; an Edward Lear watercolour, and an oil painting by the Selsey Bill-born artist Keith Vaughan.

In his book, My Name Escapes Me, Sir Alec Ð famous for his roles in Bridge On The River Kwai and Kind Hearts And Coronets Ð noted on April 13, 1995: ÒOn Monday dined at the Garrick, sitting next to the painter Keith Grant.

ÒWe chatted away for an hour, finding we had a shared enthusiasm for Iceland and an interest in Ruskin, Edward Lear, Lowry and Gwen John.Ó

Oil paintings by Lowry can sometimes fetch more than £1m. On December 1, 1999, a world record for a Lowry was set at SothebyÕs in London when the Professional FootballersÕ Association paid £1,926,500 for LowryÕs 1953 painting, Going To The Match, which the PFA used to illustrate its 2000 Christmas card.

Sir AlecÕs art collection will be sold by SothebyÕs in London at its Modern British and Irish Pictures sale on November 29 and Modern and British Irish Art sale on December 5.