A painting by notorious London gangster Ronnie Kray is back on the market after turning up at a car boot sale in the west of Ireland last month.
The framed artwork was discovered among a bundle of paintings purchased by a boot-sale enthusiast in Mayo for less than €20 in July.
It dates from 1973, is signed on both the front and back, and bears a stamp from Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight.
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Ronnie Kray served nine years of his life sentence for murder at Parkhurst in the 1970s, during which time he painted prolifically, though the quality of his work is child-like and aesthetically extremely poor.
The Castlebar resident who bought the item wishes to remain anonymous but said he had no idea what he had purchased until he took it home.
“I got it at a car boot sale with a load of other paintings. I think it was just thrown in a bundle. I probably picked out two or three, and they probably fired a couple more in,” he recalled.
“I threw them in the car and, when I got home, I looked at it and it was only then I saw ‘Parkhurst Prison’ on the back of it and realised it was something authentic. That’s when I turned the front over and saw the word ‘Kray’ in big letters.”
Both of the notorious Kray twins produced artworks during their incarceration, although Reggie is considered to have been the more talented.
“This is by Ronnie Kray, as opposed to Reggie,” said the buyer.
“Reggie was a little bit better. Ronnie just churned these things out. He probably painted 50 of them a day. His brother was acceptable as an artist, but Ronnie was like a child. In fact, you wouldn’t be giving a five-year-old much of a compliment to compare them to Ronnie Kray.”
Despite the questionable artistic quality, paintings by Ronnie Kray have been the subject of some interest at auction. Eight of his landscapes were sold for almost €20,000 in Suffolk, UK in 2008.
“I found one that was sold at an auction house in Tipperary about 15 years ago, which was almost identical to this one,” added the buyer. “It was painted the same year as well. He might have gone through a week of craziness and painted a few like that.
“I wouldn’t think he did it for the love of painting. I would say it was just passing time. Who knows what was going on inside him – the man was a head case.”
He has advertised the painting for sale at €350 on DoneDeal, although he has reported very little interest so far.
“If someone was going to London, it might make up to £500 (€590) just as a novelty more than anything else – for someone to have it hanging on their wall and say, ‘Look, I have a bit of Ronnie Kray.’”
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