Million Pound Pawn guest gutted as rare painting snubbed by experts at ‘nowhere near’ asking price
A GUEST on Million Pound Pawn was left disappointed when a rare painting was priced "nowhere near" what he expected.
Expert Dan Hartfield snubbed seller Adrian, who was looking to trade his LS Lowry drawing of a horse in for some big money on the ITV show.
Lowry is famous for his matchstick men drawings which can rack up millions at auction, something owner Adrian may have been hoping for.
Dan left him disappointed, as the seller admitted he wasn't impressed with the offer that was just a few thousand more than what he originally paid.
Adrian explained he had bought the art as an investment: "Art as an investment has always been at the back of my mind and my sketch is a real one-off."
He went on to tell Dan: "This is a piece from LS Lowry, this is one of his earlier works. Also, what he’d do was turn over paper and sketch in on the other side as well."
As Lowry is one of Britain's most faked artists, Dan told the camera: "Perhaps the worst part of pawnbroking is with every deal there is a worry something might be fake."
The guest revealed he paid £13,000 for the artwork, and that he was looking to flog it for £18,000 and make a nice profit.
"My gut feeling tells me I’ll probably get between £18,000 to £20,000 – it’s a Lowry after all,” the guest explained before leaving the drawing with the experts.
Dan took the painting to Lowry expert Robin Light to find out whether or not it was genuine.
“It’s interesting, it’s different,” Robin said of the work. “If it is one of Lowry’s it’s one of his art school drawings.
“In regards to the authenticity, we’ve seen some very bad copies both in oils and in drawing so one has to air on the side of caution.”
The expert looked at the back of the drawing and seemed pleased to see an unfinished sketch of a horse on the back, suggesting it's authentic.
“It’s good to see, that’s a good sign, looks like it is a Lowry,” Robin declared, as negotiations on price then began.
Dan said: “My client wants £18,000," to which Robin replied: "I don’t think it’s worth anything near that.
"As an academic early art school drawing I think you could that down by 50 to 70 percent and I would say three to five to buy which I know is going to sound disappointing to you. If I was going to buy it at five, I would sell it for 10.”
After the valuation, Dan was able to find a Lowry fan willing to buy the piece for "more than the valuation" but "less than hoped for".
Adrian wasn't happy to get what he paid for the painting, and told Dan: "Not £13,000, no I feel the matchstick figures we’re talking sky-high prices for them and it’s always going to be a Lowry and it’s only going to be the only one.”
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“Can you come down slightly?” Dan asked and Adrian answered: “Probably to £16,000 something like that.”
“How about if I offered you £15,500 and the deal will be done, I will get the money to you it’s a really strong deal,” Dan tried to seal the deal.
“Okay we’ll go for that figure we’ve got a deal,” Adrian said. “Somebody once said life is short art is forever.”
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Adrian concluded of the sale: “I’m disappointed really because I wanted it to reach the ceiling of £18,000."
Million Pound Pawn is available on the ITV Hub.