By David Saunders | UPDATED: 05:28, 21 February 2020
BRIT artist Lincoln Townley launched a new online shop and the £100,000 worth of works sold out in less than SIXTY minutes!
The London-born artist, globally recognised for his dramatic figurative work and ICONS collection, opened his virtual store to exhibit sketches and preliminary drawings from an upcoming show. But organisers were staggered when the 30 number of pieces, exhibited on the launch day, sold out in less than an hour.
The works were designed to be available a wider number of collectors and fans of Lincoln’s work who have a lower financial entry point. The prices of the art ranged from £650 to £13500.
Lincoln who recently unveiled his £7m Chelsea penthouse which will be used as the world’s first exclusive apartment to view his ground breaking work sells his originals for between £350,000 and £1m.
Lincoln said: “My online shop was designed to open my studio up to the world. It’s essential for artists in genres to expand sales using the biggest middle man on earth, the internet! With the closing of many galleries artists need to embrace technology to grow their business and reach more collectors. We have been planning this online platform for a year and it’s now proving to be one of the best things I’ve done.”
The works that were on offer included unique prints, head studies, drawings, Polaroid’s, stencils and collectible signed books all of which are part of Lincoln’s new collection which is called UNIVERSE.
The major collection will be the artist’s biggest to date and is made up of original oil paintings and embellished prints with a total value of £20m and will be exhibited in the whole of gallery 5 at Saatchi gallery on Kings Rd, Chelsea this September.
Universe is a collection of ten pictures, created over the last eighteen months which explores success and creating ones own reality.
It is hoped the UNIVERSE works will be as successful as his sell out Behind The Mask La Biennale Collection and his Greed collection at Saatchi which sold one month before opening for 490 Bitcoin.
The decision to create the online virtual shop is a backlash to the traditional upmarket gallery which Lincoln believes is too exclusive and an anachronism in the modern digital age. Last year Lincoln unveiled 19, an apartment in Chelsea designed to sell his art outside the restrictive confines of the gallery system.
At the time Lincoln said: “I’ve designed 19 as a place to live with my art. Investors and art collectors can really appreciate my work before they commit to buying. The apartment was chosen specifically because of its close proximity to so many of my clients as well as offering an exclusive service to overseas clients coming to the capital to buy my work. I want them to experience the work in an environment which complements the work rather than in a hostile gallery which is designed for many artists and not just one.
“This is a truly unique way to sell art, a world’s first and I am a big believer than no one can sell my art better than I can. I do have works with some galleries but I am not exclusive to anyone and I’ve always explored alternate markets such as the crypto world and sales generated via social media and online.”
Lincoln added: “The sale of my last two collections has allowed me to invest in this property as well as expand the idea to Switzerland and America to focus on these two markets as well as in the UK. I believe I’ve always been a disruptor in the art market and I think 19 will again define my work in an environment designed specifically to highlight the many themes I’ve captured in my varied collections.”
Multi-millionaire Townley’s dramatic rise to fame in the global art market has seen him grow from eight years ago to today where his work sells for up to £1million.
Lincoln has also been commissioned to paint many of the world’s biggest icons including Charlie Sheen, Al Pacino, Sir Michael Caine and his original oil paintings of demons drawn from the unconscious mind, have been exhibited at major international galleries including the National Gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Los Angeles and the Brisbane Powerhouse.
The portraits of stars Lincoln has painted also include the annual BAFTA honourees, Dame Judi Dench, John Cleese, Kate Moss, Charlie Sheen, Russell Brand, Leonardo Di Caprio, Marlon Brando, Princess Diana, Mohammed Ali, David Bowie, Pele, Ronaldinho and many others.
Lincoln painted Sir Michael Caine and his wife Shakira, after presenting him the painting the legendary actor said: “There’s no doubt in my opinion that Lincoln is the next Andy Warhol.”
Last year Lincoln sold a diamond encrusted portrait of the late Princess Diana for a personal record-breaking £1million, beating his previous record of £510,000 set by his painting of Mohammed Ali. The Princess Diana painting, a huge two metre square oil and acrylic spray on linen, had over £100,000 worth of diamonds embedded into the canvas to give a spectacular finish.
The self taught artist has struggled against an established art market and is now collected across the world including America, Australia, the Middle East and Europe.
The internationally successful artist was last month also chosen for the fifth year in succession to paint the BAFTA honourees. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts honourees have included Kenneth Branagh, Matt Damon, Ava DuVernay, Claire Foy, film legend Dick Van Dyke, Jodie Foster, Ricky Gervais, Samuel L. Jackson, Felicity Jones, Ang Lee, and Ewan McGregor. The previous year he painted Orlando Bloom, James Corden, Harrison Ford, Sam Mendes, Amy Schumer and Meryl Streep.
James Nicholls, Managing Director and Curator of the Maddox Gallery, Mayfair, London, said: “In each generation it is a rare occurrence when an artist has the potential to become iconic, and it is our considered opinion that Lincoln Townley is such an extraordinary artist. The British artist was relatively unknown four years ago, now he has become famous for creating the most vivid insight into producing electrifying portraits of Hollywood stars such as; Al Pacino, Dame Judi Dench, Gary Oldman, Sir John Hurt, Robert Downey Jr. Judi Dench, Russell Brand and Charlie Sheen.
“Sir Michael Caine recently described him as the new Andy Warhol, and others see a Francis Bacon-like quality in his work. The value of his work has risen 200% in the last two years alone.”