{"id":720524,"date":"2026-07-31T07:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/720524\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T07:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:51:12","slug":"stockton-man-furious-after-11k-lucy-pittaway-artwork-valued-at-1500","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/720524\/","title":{"rendered":"Stockton man furious after \u00a311k Lucy Pittaway artwork valued at \u00a31,500"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Stockton’s<\/a> Chris Joseph, 58, purchased The Imposter by artist Lucy Pittaway in March 2023.\n<\/p>\n

\n After a failed attempt to sell the artwork at auction, Joseph accused the artist of making buyers believe her originals would hold or increase in value.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"Dated:Art lover Chris Joseph says he will burn the artwork he bought from Lucy Pittaway. (Image: NORTH NEWS & PICTURES LTD)\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr Joseph said: “I was expecting the painting to be worth more than I paid for it.\n<\/p>\n

\n “The originals are marketed as assets that retain their value.\n<\/p>\n

\n “But not only has the value gone down, the artwork is literally priceless.”\n<\/p>\n

\n He originally bought the 45-square-inch painting\u2014depicting a cat in a large hat\u2014for \u00a310,750, complete with a certificate of authenticity and a valuation certificate for the same amount.\n<\/p>\n

\n The valuation certificate provided with the Lucy Pittaway artwork. (Image: NORTH NEWS & PICTURES LTD)\n<\/p>\n

\n Just 18 months later, however, the artwork was valued at \u00a31,500 to \u00a32,500 by one auction house and \u00a33,000 to \u00a34,000 by another.\n<\/p>\n

\n Despite being featured on the front of the auction house\u2019s brochure, the painting failed to attract a single bid when it went under the hammer at Thomas Watson in Darlington.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Imposter by Lucy Pittaway. (Image: NORTH NEWS & PICTURES LTD)\n<\/p>\n

\n Chris added: “I have been paying a premium, because I had it insured for \u00a310,750. It’s clearly not worth that.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Lucy Pittaway is a talented artist, there’s no doubt about it and I’m not saying she isn’t.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr Joseph said he even offered to sell the painting back to Ms Pittaway\u2019s gallery, but was told the gallery only sells art, not purchases it.\n<\/p>\n

\n He said: “I bought the painting because I genuinely liked it.\n<\/p>\n

\n “It was part of The Dog Collection, and I was fond of the fact The Imposter was the odd one out.\n<\/p>\n

\n “What will I do with it now?\n<\/p>\n

\n “If I have a barbecue, I’ll put it on the barbecue.”\n<\/p>\n

\n A spokesperson for Ms Pittaway denied any deception, stressing that original artwork, like other investments, is subject to market fluctuations.\n<\/p>\n

\n The spokesperson said: “Any suggestion that the gentleman has been misled in any way is absolutely untrue.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Original artwork is an investment, and like any investment, it can be subject to many elements, most of which are entirely out of the artist’s control and cannot be predicted.\n<\/p>\n

\n “That could include fashions and trends, whether a painting has widespread appeal or whether it is more ‘niche’ in style or subject matter, wider economic factors and the condition of the painting being offered for sale.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Art in itself is very subjective.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Not all paintings will be everyone’s ‘cup of tea’ and some pieces are simply just not as popular or sought after as others.”\n<\/p>\n

\n The spokesperson emphasised that value is not guaranteed, but Ms Pittaway\u2019s originals have generally retained or exceeded their original sale price when resold.\n<\/p>\n

\n They said: “Art values\u2014like houses, share prices and many others\u2014fluctuate and for that reason we would never guarantee a piece would hold its value.\n<\/p>\n

\n “However, it is our experience that where Lucy’s originals have been resold, they have not only maintained their original value but in many cases have exceeded their original sale price.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Ms Pittaway’s team also said they would be willing to advertise Mr Joseph’s painting on their website as a private sale if he wished to find a potential buyer.\n<\/p>\n

\n The former advertising executive lost his arm aged 20 while working in an iron foundry, Head Wrightson Iron Cast on the outskirts of Stockton.\n<\/p>\n

\n He had been greasing two gigantic cogs on a crane when he stumbled and his arm was slowly swallowed up by the machinery, which resulted in his limb being amputated.\n<\/p>\n

\n In the aftermath he developed bipolar and went on to launch successful agency Hook Advertising, which boasted clients including Fujitsu and Schwarzkopf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stockton’s Chris Joseph, 58, purchased The Imposter by artist Lucy Pittaway in March 2023. After a failed attempt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-720524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}