Painting bought at flea market sells for thousands

Holly Hammond, left, and Coralie Thomson, from auctioneers Duggleby Stephenson, with the painting by British artist Patrick Heron

A painting picked up at a French flea market by a woman from East Yorkshire has been sold for thousands.

Kate Pottage, from Cherry Burton, spotted the picture in April lying on a pavement in Amiens at one of the largest flea markets in Europe.

Ms Pottage agreed to pay £34 (40 euros) and said it was not until she was back home that she realised it was the work of 20th Century British artist Patrick Heron.

The painting was sold by Duggleby Stephenson on Friday 12 June at the York Auction Centre in Murton for £6,800.

The painting by Patrick Heron is dated 1959

Ms Pottage and her husband, Mark, had timed the eight-hour journey so that they would arrive in the French city of Amiens not long after midnight and be among the early bargain hunters getting a first look.

“We weren’t actually looking for a painting,” she said. “But there was something about this picture.

“Even by the light of my torch the thing was really strange and striking. I saw that it was signed P. Heron but, quite honestly, the name meant nothing at that moment.”

Mr Heron (1920-1999) is regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-war British art and his work regularly sells for thousands of pounds.

'Fascinating picture'

Coralie Thomson, an art specialist at Duggleby Stephenson, said: “It is a wonderful - not to say absolutely astonishing - find.

“It is dated 1959, so relatively soon after Heron’s conversion to abstraction. The painting is an atmospheric abstract composition of muted tones, a painting that fits right into the work that he was doing at that period.

“It is a fascinating picture by a great artist and, of course, it comes with a backstory that would surely be almost impossible to beat.”

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