Chimp’s abstract art up for sale

A CHIMPANZEE’S abstract paintings are going under the hammer at a top auction house.

The animal, named Congo, produced the art in 1957, when he was three years old.

It will now be sold alongside work by the likes of Andy Warhol, Renoir and the Chapman Brothers.

But the sale next month will not be the first time that Congo’s work has been in the limelight.

He produced 400 drawings and paintings between the age of two and four in the late 1950s.

As well as being the subject of a number of studies, Congo’s paintings were included in an exhibition of chimpanzee art at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.

Experts reacted to the display in 1957 with a mixture of scorn and scepticism.

Picasso is thought to have framed one of Congo’s works on a wall in his studio after being presented with it as a gift.

Congo was also a popular guest on Zoo Time, the ‘50s TV programme presented by celebrated animal behaviourist Dr Desmond Morris.

His experiments with Congo convinced the former London Zoo curator that chimpanzees could understand some of the elements behind human art.

The collection of three works by the “Cezanne of the ape world” are estimated to fetch €1,200 in Bonhams Modern and Contemporary sale in London on June 20.

Congo’s paintings are said to resemble the style of abstract expressionism.