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Kempton Bunton

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Portrait of the Duke of Wellington, by Goya (1812–14), allegedly stolen by Bunton

Kempton Cannon Bunton (14 June 1904 – 1976) was a disabled British pensioner who confessed to stealing Francisco Goya's painting Portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London in 1961.[1][2] The theft of the painting was the subject of the October 2015 BBC Radio 4 drama Kempton and the Duke,[3] and the 2020 movie The Duke.[4]

A National Archives file released in 2012 revealed that Bunton's son, John, had confessed to the theft in 1969.[5]

Motive

Bunton was a disabled retired bus driver who earned £8 a week in 1961 (equivalent to £225 in 2023).[6][7][8] In that year, Charles Bierer Wrightsman, a rich American art collector, who made his money in the oil business, purchased Goya's painting Portrait of the Duke of Wellington for the sum of £140,000 ($390,000) (equivalent to £3,936,285 in 2023). He had plans to take it to the United States.[9] The British Government decided to buy the painting, for the same sum, to prevent the painting leaving Britain. The move was reported to have enraged Bunton, however, who objected to the television licence fee,[7] considering that TV should be made available to everybody who needed it. He had campaigned for free TV licences for pensioners, and been imprisoned several times for refusing to pay for a licence.[10]

Theft

According to his own account, Bunton learnt from conversations with guards at the National Gallery that the elaborate electronic security system of infrared sensors and alarms was deactivated in the early morning to allow for cleaning. Bunton claimed that, on the early morning of 21 August 1961, he had loosened a window in a toilet and entered the gallery. He had then prised the framed painting from the display and escaped via the window.[7]

The police initially assumed that an expert art thief was responsible. A letter was received by the Reuters news agency, however, requesting a donation of £140,000 to charity to pay for TV licences for poorer people, and demanding an amnesty for the thief, after which the painting would be returned. The request was declined.

Return and prosecution

In 1965, four years after the theft, Bunton contacted a newspaper and, through a left-luggage office at Birmingham New Street railway station, returned the painting voluntarily. Six weeks later, he also surrendered to the police, who initially discounted him as a suspect, considering it unlikely that a 61-year-old retiree, weighing 17 stone (240 lb; 110 kg), could have carried out the theft.[2][7]

During the subsequent trial, the jury convicted Bunton only of the theft of the frame, which had not been returned. Bunton's defence team, led by Jeremy Hutchinson QC, successfully claimed that Bunton never wanted to keep the painting, which meant he could not be convicted of stealing it.[11] Bunton was sentenced to three months in prison.[7] In a direct response to the case, Section 11 of the Theft Act 1968 was enacted, making it an offence to remove without authority any object displayed or kept for display to the public in a building to which the public have access.[12]

In 1996, documents released by the National Gallery implied that another person may have carried out the theft, and then passed the painting to Bunton. Bunton's son John was mentioned.[13]

In 2012, following a Freedom of Information request by Richard Voyce, and with the assistance of Sarah Teather MP, the National Archives released a confidential file from the Director of Public Prosecutions in which it was revealed that Bunton's son, John, had confessed to the theft following his arrest in 1969 for an unrelated minor offence. John Bunton said that his father had intended to use the painting as part of his campaign and that it would ultimately have been returned to the National Gallery. He said that both he and his brother, Kenneth, had been ordered by their father not to come forward despite the trial.[5] Sir Norman Skelhorn, the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the police that John Bunton's admission of guilt was almost certainly not sufficient to prosecute him. Skelhorn also advised that it would be difficult to prosecute Bunton senior for perjury, because the prosecution would have to rely on the evidence of the son, who was clearly an unreliable witness. No further action was taken.[14]

Bunton died in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1976. His death went largely unreported and there were no obituaries in the major newspapers.[14]

In the arts

The theft entered popular culture, with the 1962 James Bond film, Dr. No, showing the painting displayed in Dr. No's lair.[9] Episode 6, season 2 of The Goodies, "Culture for the Masses", referred to some aspects of the case.[citation needed] In 2015, the comedy drama Kempton and the Duke by David Spicer was broadcast on BBC Radio 4.[3]

The story of the theft, and the subsequent trial of Bunton, was dramatized in the 2020 movie The Duke, starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren,[4][10] which premiered in UK cinemas on 25 February 2022.[15] Coinciding with the release of the film, Christopher Bunton revealed previously unknown details about his grandfather's theft, including the family's side of the story.[10]

In 2020, a musical based on the story of the theft, titled Kempton Bunton, with book by Richard Voyce, music by Luke Bateman and lyrics by Richard Hughes, was due to be showcased at BEAM 2020, the festival of new musical theatre, organised by Mercury Musical Developments.[citation needed] BEAM 2020 was postponed because of Covid lockdowns in the UK and excerpts from the piece were eventually presented at Hackney Empire in September 2021 as part of the delayed festival of new musicals. In 2022 William Godfree became attached to the project as composer/lyricist.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Greatest heists in art history". BBC. 23 August 2004.
  2. ^ a b Antonio Nicita and Matteo Rizzolli, "Screaming Too Mu(n)ch? The economics of art thefts", 18th Erfurt workshop on Law and Economics held on 23 and 24 March 2005.
  3. ^ a b Writer: David Spicer; Kempton Bunton: Kevin Whately; Producer: Liz Anstee (6 October 2015). "Kempton and the Duke". Radio 4 drama. BBC. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  4. ^ a b "The Duke - opening 22 April 2022". Sony Pictures Classics. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b Travis, Alan (30 November 2012). "Revealed: 1961 Goya 'theft' from National Gallery was a family affair". The Guardian.
  6. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e Sean P. Steele, "Heists Swindles, Stickups, and Robberies that Shocked the World", pp 74-78. ISBN 1-85627-706-2.
  8. ^ Moore, Matthew (30 October 2019). "The Duke: film made of Kempton Bunton's theft of Goya's Duke of Wellington portrait". The Times. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  9. ^ a b "World's Greatest Art Heists". Forbes. 1 September 2006. Archived from the original on 23 February 2007.
  10. ^ a b c Sillito, David (25 February 2022). "The Duke: Why my family stole a masterpiece portrait". BBC News.
  11. ^ Nairne, Sandy (6 August 2011). "From the National Gallery to Dr No's lair". The Guardian.
  12. ^ "Report: Ministerial Advisory Panel on Illicit Trade" (PDF). British Department for Culture, Media and Sport. December 2000. p. 15.
  13. ^ "Art Theft Central". 13 August 2010. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  14. ^ a b "Kempton Bunton and the Great Goya Heist at the National Gallery". Another Nickel In The Machine. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  15. ^ Brew, Simon (8 November 2021). "The Duke finally getting a UK cinema release". Film Stories. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
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