889
Jim Gilbert (1933-1995), "Street Scene, Bethnal Green", ink with watercolour, signed and inscribed recto, titled label verso, 23cm x 30cm, within a stained wood frame. Note: James Barrington Gilbert, known as Jim Gilbert, grew up in London's East End and spent much of his early adult life in prison for offences including robbery and drug smuggling. While serving a six-year sentence in the 1960s, he took up painting as a means of psychological release. In 1972, two years before his release, he held his first exhibition in Bath and received the Arthur Koestler Award for Prisoner Art. The following year, he was commissioned by the Dylan Thomas Society to paint a portrait of the poet for presentation to US President Jimmy Carter. In August 1974, on his release from prison, Gilbert was permitted to collect £8,000 from the sale of his paintings. His later works were inspired by Morocco and Spain, where he died in 1995.
£40-60