Letter: Portrait in the Mirror

Sir: I am afraid Amanda Platell (Media, 26 May) must have been badly informed when she took up occupancy of her new office in the Daily Mirror if she believes the painting portraying a plump middle-aged man in his shirtsleeves lounging in a deckchair at the seaside with a copy of the Mirror draped over an empty chair in front of him was one of a series of paintings put in by Robert Maxwell in 1984.

The painting in question, which was hung in countless Mirror directors' and editors' offices, was originally purchased from a Royal Academy exhibition sponsored by the Mirror Group many years before Robert Maxwell set foot in Holborn Circus. The artist was Ruskin Spear, a very eminent Royal Academician. Finally, the painting was based on a snapshot of no less a personality than Russell Harty.

Yours sincerely,

BOB COLE

Chislehurst, Kent