ART COLLECTOR DISCOVERS A £50,000 PAINTING HIDDEN BENEATH £8,500 PORTRAIT

AN ART COLLECTOR WHO BOUGHT A PORTRAIT BY A CELEBRATED BRITISH ARTIST HAS RECENTLY UNCOVERED A £50,000 MASTERPIECE, AFTER AN X-RAY REVEALED ANOTHER PICTURE HIDDEN UNDERNEATH. THE ART LOVER BOUGHT THE ORIGINAL PIECES, A SELF PORTRAIT BY ROBERT LENKIEWICZ DEPICTING THE ARTIST IN A NUDE POSE WITH A FEMALE MODEL, AT A COLLECTIVE AUCTION OF LENKIEWICZ'S WORK IN 2003, FOR £8,500. THE OWNER OF THE DOUBLE PAINTING SAID: 'WHEN THE EXPERTS LOOKED AT IT THEY RECKONED IT CONTAINED ANOTHER PICTURE UNDERNEATH. SO I TOOK IT TO TORBY HOSPITAL AND DISCOVERED THE TRAMP, WHICH COULD BE WORTH MORE THAN WHAT IS PAINTED OVER IT. THE PICTURE I BOUGHT AT AUCTION COULD BE VALUED AT MORE THAN £50,000. IT IS A PRIVATE WORK AND PERHAPS SHOULD NEVER HAVE GONE UNDER THE HAMMER AT THE ESTATE SALE IN 2003.' LENKIEWICZ, OF PLYMOUTH, DEVON, DIED OF A HEART ATTACK AT THE AGE OF 60 IN 2002 AND LEFT BEHIND NO CASH BUT A VAST COLLECTION OF ART WORTH MORE THAN £2 MILLION. HE WAS FAMOUS FOR HIS WORKS WITH THE HOMELESS AND AFTER HE DIED, THE EMBALMED BODY OF A 72 YEAR OLD TRAMP WAS FOUND STUFFED IN A DRAWER IN HIS STUDIO. THE TRAMP, EDWIN MCKENZIE, KNOWN AS DIOGENES, WAS A CLOSE FRIEND OF THE ARTIST AND HIS WHEREABOUTS SINCE HIS DEATH IN THE 1980s HAD BEEN A MYSTERY. IT WAS BELIEVED THE DYING WISH OF MCKENZIE, WHO HAD NO KNOWN FAMILY, WAS THAT HIS FRIEND SHOULD EMBALM HIS BODY AS A 'WORK OF ART'. IT IS TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE TO REMOVE THE TOP PAINTING TO REVEAL THE TRAMP MASTERPIECE UNDERNEATH, BUT THE PRICE TAG WOULD NOT BE JUSTIFIED ON A £50,000 PAINTING. ART DEALER ADRIAN PHIPPEN, A LENKIEWICZ EXPERT, SAID THE DOUBLE PORTRAIT WAS 'A VERY IMPORTANT PIECE OF WORK' BY THE ARTIST. 'WORKS LIKE THIS ONE WILL BECOME MORE VALUABLE AND HIGHLY PRIZED BY COLLECTORS THAN THE SELF PORTRAITS WITH WOMEN THAT HE PAINTED. TO REMOVE THE TOP PAINTING WOULD BE EXPENSIVE BUT WHOEVER BUYS IT WILL HAVE A UNIQUE PIECE BY A LEADING BRITISH ARTIST.' THE OWNER OF THE PAINTING, WHO LIVES IN LONDON AND ASHBURTON IN DEVON, NOW PLANS TO SELL IT AT THE DRIFTWOOD GALLERY IN PADSTOW, CORNWALL. HE SAID: 'I THINK THE IMAGE THERE NOW IS VERY GOOD AND RARE. AND IT WOULD BE EXPENSIVE TO RESTORE IT TO GET TO THE TRAMP.' THE POPULARITY OF LENKIEWICZ'S WORK HAS INCREASED SINCE HIS DEATH AND THE CURRENT WORLD RECORD FOR ONE OF HIS ARTWORKS STANDS AT £57,600 FOR A SELF-PORTRAIT IN 2005. HIS WORK WAS VIRTUALLY IGNORED BY THE ART WORLD DURING HIS LIFETIME, BUT NOW EXPERTS ARE COMPARING HIS COLOURFUL BOHEMIAN STYLE WITH FRANCIS BACON AND LUCIAN FREUD.