Farmer with a good eye for cattle and art

08 October 1998

Farmer with a good eye for cattle — and art

A FARMER with a good eye for cattle proved to have an equally good one for art.

A painting he bought for £100 in the 1940s has turned out to a masterpiece worth £300,000 today.

The painting had been brought in for insurance valuation by two farmers, who arrived at Sothebys offices in Chester dressed in Wellington boots and overalls. The painting was wedged between hay bales in the back of their pick-up truck.

It was later identified as The Deceitfulness of Riches by Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale.

The mens father said: “My father like pretty pictures, but didnt know much about them. He had a good eye for beef cattle though.”

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  The Daily Telegraph 08/10/98 page 13