Frank Auerbach painting seized from money launderer to be sold by NCA

The painting – Albert Street, 2009 oil on canvas, 112 x 122cm – is part of Auerbach’s long-running series that depicts a street in Camden Town, north London. Photograph: NCA

A Frank Auerbach painting estimated to be worth several million pounds is to be sold by the National Crime Agency after it was recovered from a convicted money launderer who worked for organised criminal gangs, including drug traffickers.

The work was seized by police after Lenn Mayhew-Lewis, 69, went on the run in March 2023 after being convicted of money laundering, with an investigation discovering that he had also bought a painting by Auerbach in a private sale.