Feb 25, 2010 - Sale 2204

Sale 2204 - Lot 213

Price Realized: $ 2,400
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 5,000
ORIGINAL ART BY JAMES EARL RAY (CIVIL RIGHTS--MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.) RAY, JAMES EARL. Escape from Brushy Mountain. Acrylic on board signed twice by the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., 12x16 inches, on artist's board * together with a letter of authenticity, on State of Tennessee Prison stationery, signed by Ray 8vo, letter with creases where folded. Nashville: Station State Farm Prison, 1986
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Additional Details

Presented to a collector in Great Britain by James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ray painted this to illustrate his abortive attempt to escape from the Brushy Mountain prison. The letter of provenance, signed by Ray was typed at the bottom of a letter to Ray from the Tennessee State Prison Parole Board, denying one of his many appeals for parole. Ray maintained his innocence until the end of his life.