Artist Lincoln Townley takes aim at huge City Christmas bonuses in new paintings

Controversial artist Lincoln Townley has taken aim at the tradition of hefty Christmas bonuses in the city with a new series of paintings.

Some of the oil paintings, based on the seven deadly sins, will be launched in financial districts around the world including New York and Singapore but two have already been sold.

Townley, who is holding a major show in Venice next year, said he was inspired by how “people value their own worth at Christmas bonus time”.

He said: “l am interested in people that push boundaries and create opportunities from nothing, hustling and connecting throughout the year and for this they receive huge bonuses which then finances my work.”

Townley, whose work can sell for seven figures, has painted some of the world’s biggest actors including Al Pacino and Michael Caine.

Last year, he sold a diamond encrusted portrait of Princess Diana for £1million.