{"id":376312,"date":"2026-04-12T19:31:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/376312\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T19:31:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:31:22","slug":"florence-pughs-father-banks-on-new-life-by-the-sea-after-blockbuster-art-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/376312\/","title":{"rendered":"Florence Pugh\u2019s father banks on new life by the sea after blockbuster art sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since 1998 three large paintings have served as a constant backdrop to Clinton Pugh\u2019s life, hanging first in his Oxford restaurant and later in his family home.<\/p>\n

For decades, Pugh, the father of the actress Florence Pugh, overlooked the rising value of the works, which he had bought for \u00a32,000 from an unknown graduate artist called Sacha Jafri.<\/p>\n

On April 23, these same paintings will be put on to the market for the first time at an inaugural exhibition for a new gallery in central London, the Chiaroscuro, where they are expected to sell for millions.<\/p>\n

\"ClintonClinton Pugh with two of his paintings by Sacha Jafri, Mechanics of the Soul, left, and Reflections of the Soul, right Murray Sanders for The sunday Times<\/p>\n

Sara Ezen, the gallery\u2019s founder, said it was \u201copen to serious offers\u201d for the works.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven that his work [The Journey of Humanity] sold at a charity auction for $62 million and that his most lucratively privately sold piece was for $1.4 million, it could well reach a high price point,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Today, Jafri is one of the most expensive living painters, his work collected by the Obamas, Sir Paul McCartney and the royal family. His paintings will be displayed at the Chiaroscuro alongside new and original works by several critically acclaimed artists, including Banksy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Clinton Pugh with his third painting, Eternal Journey<\/p>\n

The decision to sell<\/a> is bittersweet but necessary for Pugh, 67, a designer and restaurateur. After a gruelling few years battling the fallout of the pandemic and disputes with the local council over low-traffic neighbourhoods, which Pugh claims cost him his restaurant empire and his pension, he is looking for a fresh start.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked ridiculously hard all my life \u2026 I\u2019d love to wake up and have a studio myself like Sacha,\u201d he said. \u201cAny extra money would be extremely helpful to get me to my studio in the sun, overlooking the sea, maybe in Spain or Greece.\u201d<\/p>\n

He knows he was fortunate to come into possession of Jafri\u2019s early work but insists the artist was also lucky.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLet\u2019s think how lucky he was: don\u2019t forget it\u2019s 1998 and I paid him \u00a32,000. This is an artist and he could be nothing and it\u2019s only the fact that he\u2019s become successful that it\u2019s a talking point,\u201d he said. \u201cI paid what was fair for three paintings from an unknown artist and that was a lot of money then.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1998 at the Grand Caf\u00e9 on Oxford\u2019s High Street, Pugh was approached by a confident young man from the nearby Ruskin School of Art.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis young gentleman was waiting outside trying to speak to me because he wanted to display his paintings for sale in the Grand Caf\u00e9. I explained to him the walls were full of mirrors, but I had another restaurant, the Lemon Tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

After four weeks of exhibition, the young Jafri needed a quick sale. \u201cHe said, \u2018I\u2019m really short of money at the moment. If I drop the price a bit, will you buy them?\u2019\u201d Pugh agreed, writing the cheque out to the artist\u2019s mother, he recalled.<\/p>\n

For Pugh, the paintings were a fitting nod to the creative lives of his family, who he compares to \u201cthe Von Trapps [but] somewhat more talented\u201d. Florence, 30, is an Oscar-nominated actress, Toby Sebastian, 34, is a musician and actor, Arabella, 40, is a singer-songwriter, and Raffaela, 22, is an actress-turned-sailor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ClintonPugh with his daughter Florence<\/p>\n

\u201c[The paintings] graced our walls during the whole time the children were growing up,\u201d Pugh said, adding that he had recently watched a video Florence posted on Instagram, playing her guitar with one of the Jafri works visible in the background. \u201cFlorence is an incredible artist \u2014 I\u2019m looking at three pots she\u2019s made right now that are absolutely stunning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, he continued, \u201cThe most important thing, as I always say to all of them: it doesn\u2019t matter how successful they are, the most important thing is that they\u2019re decent human beings. And they are. They are four incredible children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last March, Jafri and Pugh reconnected via Instagram. Pugh visited Jafri\u2019s Dubai studio while en route to New Zealand to visit Florence on the set of East of Eden, a forthcoming TV series adapted from John Steinbeck\u2019s 1952 novel. Jafri explained the meanings behind the works he had spent three years on as a student and said they were inspired by Kafka.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ClintonPugh at Sacha Jafri\u2019s studio in Dubai <\/p>\n

Regardless of how much the paintings sell for, Pugh said it isn\u2019t just about funding a \u201cshack by the sea\u201d. He has pledged to donate 20 per cent of the proceeds to an addiction support charity, a cause which is personal to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy poor mother had a hysterectomy directly after my younger brother was born \u2026 The poor woman didn\u2019t know how to deal with it,\u201d he said. \u201cShe suffered badly from alcoholism because of it. And in the catering industry, it\u2019s well known that people end up becoming alcoholics or drug addicts. I have witnessed that, and it\u2019s very sad. People need support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pugh hopes that the paintings will not only make money to support his future and those enduring addiction but will also find a home where they can be enjoyed by the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cArt needs to be seen,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit like a restaurant. The joy is in people enjoying the atmosphere you\u2019ve created.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since 1998 three large paintings have served as a constant backdrop to Clinton Pugh\u2019s life, hanging first in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-376312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}