London, Ont. couple auction off painting by Canadian artist Maud Lewis

A Maud Lewis painting once traded for a grilled cheese sandwich at a London, Ont., restaurant nearly 50 years ago is expected to reach up to $35,000 at an upcoming auction.

A Maud Lewis painting once traded for a grilled cheese sandwich at a London, Ont., restaurant nearly 50 years ago is expected to receive nearly $35,000 at an upcoming auction.

Irene and Tony Demas, owners of the former Villa restaurant on Richmond Street, renamed Anthony’s Seafood Bistro after their son and opened their doors in the early 1970’s.

“We both had very little experience in the restaurant business,” said Irene Demas. “But it all worked out in the end as we managed to stay in business and open five other restaurants.”

Navigating through initial staffing struggles, Irene attended culinary school at Fanshawe College to help manage the rising influx of customers.

“Over the years, we’ve met some wonderful people that came through the door,” said Demas.

One of those people was London artist John Kinnear. According to Demas, “They had a favourite table at the front of the restaurant, and they would walk over almost every day for lunch.”

In wanting art for the walls of their restaurant, the Demas and Kinnears reached a deal to have his artwork be used as payment for meals. Demas said that it was almost always a grilled cheese sandwich.

“But one day he showed up with different kinds of paintings,” explained Demas. “I came out from the kitchen and the paintings were all scattered along the table and at first, I thought they were painted by a child. John proceeded to tell me otherwise.”