Bargain hunter buys blurry painting at French flea market for £34 - and it's worth £10,000

A savvy shopper struck gold at a French flea market, bagging a blurry painting for just £34, only to discover it's an original worth over £10,000. Kate Pottage, 49, alongside her husband Mark, 48, couldn't believe their luck when they picked up the piece at La Grande Rederie d'Amiens, Europe's biggest flea market.

The East Yorkshire couple had made the six-hour journey from Cherry Burton, arriving at the stroke of midnight before the market opened on April 21. It was there that Kate, by the glow of her torch, was drawn to a painting propped against a stall on the pavement.

Initially quoted EU50 (£42), Kate haggled the price down to EU40 (£34). Back home, the couple uncovered the truth: the artwork was by renowned 20th-century British abstract artist Patrick Heron.

Read more: New GP rules

Set to be auctioned at Duggleby Stephenson of York this Friday (12/7), the painting carries a £10,000 tag but could command much more. Reflecting on the find, Kate said: "We weren't actually looking for a painting.

"But there was something about this picture. Even by the light of my torch the thing was really striking. I saw that it was signed P. Heron but quite honestly the name meant nothing at that moment."

Patrick Heron, who passed away in 1999 at the age of 79, is celebrated as one of Britain's foremost painters of the previous century. His pieces often fetch tens of thousands at auctions, sometimes exceeding £1 million.

Art expert Coralie Thomson expressed amazement at the discovery: "It is a wonderful, not to say absolutely astonishing, find.

"Leeds-born Heron was an incredibly influential figure, a painter, writer and critic who played a leading role in raising British interest in post-war abstract art. His early influences were Braque and Matisse but after seeing an exhibition of American abstract impressionists in London in 1956 Heron abandoned figurative painting and underwent a conversion to pure abstraction.

"The result was a spectacularly successful career that saw his work exhibited around the world. Kate's flea market find is dated 1959, so relatively soon after Heron's conversion to abstraction.

"The painting is an atmospheric abstract composition of muted tones, a painting that fits right into the work that he was doing at that period. It is a fascinating picture by a great artist whose work is to be found in major collections in this country and around the world and of course it comes with a backstory that would surely be almost impossible to beat.

"He won many awards and honours including a CBE in Harold Wilson's 1976 resignation honours list (the infamous Lavender List) but he later rejected the offer of a knighthood and also declined an invitation to become a member of the Royal Academy."