Former booze addicted artist hubby of Denise Welch sells £300,000 painting of Prince
'New Warhol' Lincoln Townley flush after flogging portrait of tragic singer
AN ART collector has paid £300,000 for a painting of Prince by a former booze addicted self-taught artist - married to ex-Corrie star Denise Welch.
The work, by an ex strip-club promoter already branded “the new Andy Warhol”, has been snapped up by a mystery bidder.
Lincoln Townley's creation features a psychedelic image of the late pop star with ‘PRINCE’ stencilled across it.
The edgy art is to go on display at the Royal Academy next month.
A-listers Charlie Sheen, Al Pacino, Nick Nolte, Gary Oldman and Mickey Rourke have all commissioned portraits by new British sensation Townley in the knowledge that his troubled past reflects theirs.
The 43-year-old was sacked from his role marketing Peter Stringfellow’s lap dancing clubs in 2011.
His life was ruined by his terrible addiction to booze.
Townley would down three or four bottles of red wine before lunch, then start on spirits, and keep on drinking until he passed out – often in the streets of central London.
At his peak he thought nothing of finishing off two bottles of Rioja, three chocolate martinis, four lagers and nine vodka tonics - punctuated by snorts of cocaine.
During rare sober moments he’d paint to exorcise the pain of his all-consuming addiction.
And, slowly, his raw works were being bought by celebrities and collectors impressed by the compelling stories they told on canvas.
His big break came in 2014 when he was contacted by Ramon Estevez asking him to paint his brother Charlie Sheen, the Two And A Half Men star, who has had his own well documented battle with drink and drugs.
Sheen was delighted with the outcome, declaring Townley had ‘captured the essence of what it is to live with addiction’.
Other stars were soon in touch, and he has unveiled a collection commissioned by Bafta Los Angeles that includes Britons James Corden, Sam Mendes and Orlando Bloom.
Townley has also completed new portraits of John Cleese, Russell Brand, Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, David Bowie and Michael Caine, who dubbed him “the new Andy Warhol” after the 60s American pop art great.
Townley has even painted The Queen.
The artist has told of his love affair with Denise Welch, the actress and TV presenter, 14 years his senior, who became his second wife.
The former Corrie and Waterloo Road actress has also had difficulties with drink.
She had just split from her husband of 24 years – Auf Wiedersehen, Pet actor Tim Healey – in 2012 when Welch, then 53, got engaged to Townley, then 40, and they married at a villa on the Algarve in Portugal a year later.
He said: “We had a year of madness then I decided to get sober and three months later so did she.
“We anchored each other and have done so ever since. We encouraged each other to pursue what mattered most – acting roles for Denise, painting for me – and now we just charge forward together.”
The star’s art has soared in price from initial £30,000 price-tags to six figures, and now with his Prince piece, a whopping £300,000.
It will feature in ICONS at London’s Royal Academy of Arts this summer.
Lincoln Townley yesterday told The Sun about his latest work bought by the mystery bidder, said to be a famous name in the music industry.
He said: “I wanted to honour the most incredible music Icons, artists who have touched the hearts and fed the souls of their fans for decades so my next choice was Prince.
“I have always been a huge fan and once I had chosen to paint him back in February it had to be constructed to reflect the huge achievements of which he gained including seven Grammys.
“So I painted multiple images to build the overall portrait which I feel shows the growth of such an amazing superstar over the years.
“The portrait was completed by March and I had a huge number of existing clients interested in the piece.
“It was unveiled at a private viewing and was sold to an existing collector who is huge in the music industry himself.
“The portrait will be shown however on the 2nd June at The Royal Academy. The show is a retrospective going back to 2012 and will show my first Icon portrait of Russell Brand which was sold to a collector in 2013 and is being borrowed for this special occasion.”
The Academy said: “This aim of this exhibition is to feature a selection of portraits of the world’s biggest stars and to trace the evolution of Townley’s artistic interpretation of these iconic figures.”
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