Clinton Pugh is a renowned business owner in the city, having run several famous names over the years, including The Lemon Tree.
Within the last year, the 67-year-old has sold his two remaining Oxford businesses, Cafe Coco and Kazbar.
Speaking to the Oxford Mail last October, Mr Pugh revealed estimated losses of £900,000, which he partially blames Oxfordshire County Council for.
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Now, according to a report in The Sunday Times, the restaurateur is considering had to sell three Sacha Jafri paintings.
Mr Jafri, one of the world’s most expensive living artists, was an unknown Ruskin School of Art graduate in the late 1990s.
The artist approached Mr Pugh in 1998 and asked if he could display paintings in his restaurant.
Speaking to The Sunday Times , the 67-year-old reminisced: “After about a year, Sacha approached me and said, ‘Look, I really need some money. Would you buy them off me if I drop the price a bit?’.
“I bought the whole lot, I’m guessing, for about £2,000. A few years later, one of my duty managers said he [Mr Jafri] seemed to be doing quite well.
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“But I didn’t pay much attention. It was only when he sold that painting [in 2021] for a ridiculous amount of money that I really noticed.”
The 48-year-old Old Etonian artist has now become one of the most famous on the globe, with his stock steadily rising in recent years, with David Beckham, Madonna and Barack Obama amongst his clientele.
With his business losses, Mr Pugh apparently chose to sell three of the paintings, travelling to Mr Jafri’s Dubai studio in the process.
“These paintings are potentially a national treasure,” he continued whilst speaking to The Sunday Times.
“And because of all the financial crap, I’ve lost my pension, lost almost everything.
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“I went out to Dubai to see him at his studio after contacting him, saying I’d bought these things.
“I wanted to know what they meant, what he was thinking of when he created them.”
While speaking to the Oxford Mail this week, Mr Pugh said that Mr Jafri’s studio also gave an estimated $1m plus valuation for the three paintings.
The former restaurant owner is looking to sell the trio of artwork and raise money for charity in the process.
“We want to downscale, and we can’t take everything,” said Mr Pugh.
“We’ve enjoyed having the paintings for the last 27 years, but it would be good to give something back.
“I’m hoping to sell the paintings in a charity auction so that people can benefit from them.
“Sacha has raised a lot of money from his work, and it would be good to do something in a similar vein.”
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During his chat with the Oxford Mail last year, Mr Pugh said: “I’ve lost around £900,000 and have had a huge amount of money from Florence lent to me to try and keep it going.
“Oxfordshire County Council has contributed to this when they could have helped us by making sure buses got here and by stopping our business rates completely.
“A lot of the traffic issues that have been in the city for the last 32 years have been caused by the county council, which has been removing single yellow lines.
“There used to be single yellow lines directly opposite, but once the stupid cycles were lanes were introduced, the night-time economy was hit.
“I’ve always said that I am happy for a greener, cleaner Oxford, but let’s do it properly.
“Encourage people to park their cars in the park and ride, freeing up the roads a bit rather than sticking horrible wooden boxes everywhere.
“LTNs are supposed to be flower boxes, but they have weeds growing in them, which is pathetic.
“We need them to be made out of furniture that will last, rather than something that looks like it has been made out of a pallet.
“I’m a designer and I find these things quite offensive when they’re not done properly.”
An Oxfordshire County Council spokesperson responded: “LTNs are intended to make residential streets safer, quieter and more comfortable for walking, cycling and wheeling.”
