‘Boys With New Ties’ by Sir Peter Blake fetched £662,500 ($1,038,800) at Christie’s London on Thursday, hitting a new world record for Blake at auction and netting a huge return for seller Jinty Stephenson. When the work ‘Boys with New Ties’, a painting by Sir Peter Blake was bought by Jinty Stephenson in the 1950s for a mere £30, little did she know the eventual value of the painting.
It was initially estimated that the painting could sell for 10,000 times more than its original price, the Daily Telegraph reported. The painting was estimated to sell for of £350,000, or $534,000, and its owner has called it “the best investment I’ve ever made.” Stephenson bought ‘Boys With New Ties’ – which depicts three young boys wearing colourful neckties – directly from Blake’s studio, when they were both students at London’s Royal College of Art.
But the young dress designer couldn’t afford to pay the £30 ($45) agreed upfront, and instead negotiated to pay Blake in £3 ($4.50) instalments, which was delivered to him at a local pub every Saturday. “I went to his studio with a friend, saw this painting and thought I have to get it,” Stephenson told the Daily Telegraph. “But £30 was probably what I was earning in a week as a junior designer back then,” she explained.
“I went to his studio with a friend, saw this painting, and thought I have to get it,” Stephenson told the Daily Telegraph prior to the sale “But £30 was probably what I was earning in a week as a junior designer back then,” said Stephenson.
Jinty continued, stat that the painting has accompanied her since her college days. “It’s given me enormous pleasure over the years, and has always had pride of place wherever I’ve lived,” she added.