Spike Milligan painting goes under the hammer
Nearly 10 years after his death, comedy genius Spike Milligan, who spent his childhood growing up in Lewisham, will again be the centre of attention when one of his paintings comes up for sale – the first time that a painting by the former Goon has gone under the hammer, according to Grand Auctions.
Grand Auctions expects a huge amount of interest in the Spike Milligan painting, a 10 inch by 7 inch watercolour of a female nude which has never been seen in public before.
Jonathan Riley, the paintings specialist at Folkestone-based Grand Auctions, said predicting the sale price of the painting was difficult because he could find no previous record of Milligan’s paintings being sold at auction.
Jonathan said: “There was considerable interest in a sale of Milligan memorabilia at auction by Bonhams in 2008 but I have yet to find evidence of a painting by Spike coming up for sale. Fans of his will undoubtedly be drawn to our sale but I believe that the rarity of this event will attract attention from a much wider audience.
“There is no doubt that Milligan was a gifted and naturally-talented artist. This painting has never been exhibited and indeed has never been seen in public before, so we hope it does well,” says Jonathan.
The estimate for Spike Milligan’s painting has been set at £800 to £1,200 when it goes under the hammer in the Grand Auctions sale in Folkestone in September.
The son of an Army warrant officer, Terrence Milligan was born in India in 1918. On his father’s retirement the family returned to South East London. Called up to the Army in 1939, Spike met Harry Secombe and they worked together in the Combined Services Entertainment Unit. They kept in touch after the war and in 1951, with two other ex-servicemen, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine, they launched the radio series that became famous as The Goon Show.
Spike was a naturally-gifted artist but although passionate about painting, did not produce a large body of work. The female nude watercolour being sold by Grand Auctions was painted in 1948.
The owner of the painting is Folkestone artist Charles Newington, a close friend of Milligan for 20 years before his death in 2002. A successful painter, Charles is best known for creating the White Horse that’s carved into the North Downs hills above Folkestone.
Charles struck up an enduring friendship with Milligan after a chance encounter in the street. “I was in the wonderfully-named Dumb Woman’s Lane between Winchelsea and Rye when I recognised him walking along. We started chatting and when I said I was an artist, he said ‘me too’ and invited me for tea.
“We had a shared passion for art and we got along incredibly well together. We’d meet every week or so, usually at the Indian restaurant in Rye, and I not only regarded him as a dear friend but also a mentor. In 1995 I organised his first and only solo exhibition of his work as a fine artist at the Agency Club in St Martin’s Lane in London. None of the paintings were for sale and the event did not include the ‘Nude’.
“Like Edward Lear, Spike's art is known only for his humorous book illustrations. Both Milligan and Lear wished to be known as serious fine artists but the shadow of their other notorieties denied them that,” says Charles.
“After Spike died, his wife Shelagh gave me the painting as a gift,” adds Charles, who also has two of his own paintings for sale in the 28 September auction.
Private viewings of the lots to be included in the 28 September sale can be organised in advance at Grand Auctions – for more information, visit: grandauctions.co.uk
