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£2.5m And It's Yours
Alex Ballard
Appeared as front page headline - North Wales Chronicle - newspaper
28 February 2008
A Caernarfon property owner put one of the region's most famous works of art painted on the side of his house up for sale on eBay for a seven figure sum.The listing on the internet auction site eBay led to the owner, who does not wish to be named, being labeled as a conman and the sale as a scam. But when the Chronicle tracked him down he confirmed that the sale was not only genuine but also necessary as the wall on which Edward Povey's mural Helter Skelter is painted is crumbling away due to damp.
The online auction, which attracted interest from a mystery New York art collector, invited offers in the region of £2.5m for the wall of the Bangor Street building which was used as a canvas by Mr. Povey in 1979. The owner explained that the wall would be broken down and transported to the buyer.
He said: "The wall has started to deteriorate after 40 years and needs new rendering, and it is impossible to keep it as it is. My dilemma is that I do not want to paint over the mural but it can't stay like this and it's my building at the end of the day."
And, despite having the listing removed by the website's administration on Tuesday afternoon, the seller claims that there has been significant overseas interest. He added: "I have been e-mailed from New York by one woman who sounds keen, although I'm not sure how much she wants to offer. She said that she was a big Edward Povey fan and would bring her own people in to take the wall down."
Mel Docherty, who rents the building and runs her business Mel's Brides from the premises, added: "It's sad to see that some have only begun to take notice of the mural now they realize it's worth money."
Artist Edward Povey described the situation as "absolutely amazing". He said: "I would greatly prefer if this mural about the history of Caernarfon is valued enough that the local council would want to keep it, but it appears that when the vendor spoke to the council, they said he could do what he wanted. If that's the case then I am inclined to say to him go for it, but I know that a lot of ordinary people in Caernarfon will be sad to see it go."
At time of publishing, the vendor was in negotiations with eBay to have the item relisted. If a deal can be agreed, Gwynedd Council say that permission will be required to take the wall down. A spokesperson for the authority said: "As the wall in question is part of a Grade II Listed Building, listed building consent would be needed to undertake any demolition work."
North Wales Chronicle 2008
Alex Ballard
£2.5 million and it's yours
28 February 2008
North Wales Chronicle 2008 - Full cutting available on request at artist@edwardpovey.com
£2.5 million and this wall is yours
Hywel Trewyn
...but just how are you going to carry it home?
26 February 2008
Full cutting available on request at artist@edwardpovey.com
© Copyright Edward Povey 2009