Welsh artist David Griffiths has revealed a Dutch businessman wanted to buy his portrait of Nigel Farage so he could burn it as a "publicity stunt".
Griffiths described the incident as "without a doubt the most bizzare reaction" he had ever had to one of his works.
The portrait artist – whose subjects have included Prince Charles, former first minister Rhodri Morgan, and Welsh rugby legend Barry John – looks back on his career in his new autobiography, titled Hunanbortread.
Liverpool-born Griffiths moved to Pwllheli as an infant during the Second World War, to escape Luftwaffe bombing raids on his home city.
He later studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, in London, before launching a career that includes portraits of royalty, high-ranking politicans, and well-known musicians and actors.
One of the autobiography’s headings, ‘From Cynan to Calzaghe’, hints at the wide range of Welsh public life included between the book’s covers.
As well as Welsh icons such as Bryn Terfel and fellow artist Kyffin Williams, the book shines a light on portraits that are considerably more eyebrow-raising, including those of former MEP and Brexit campaigner Farage and the controversial MP Enoch Powell.
Hunanbortread has been edited by Arfon Haines Davies, a Welsh television presenter who began his career with HTV Wales during the 1970s. This Sunday, Haines Davies joins the book’s publishers, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, in conversation about the autobiography. You can follow along live on the publisher's Facebook page.
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