Clifford Boggess was chiefly known as a cold-blooded murderer who spent several years as a detainee in the prison of Huntsville, Texas, before he was executed on his birthday on June 10th 1998. During the years he spent in the prison's death row, Clifford Boggess became a painter endowed with great talent and some of his works were notably sold in some well known galleries.
Boggess, who had shot down two old men and first claimed that he had no regrets later became a devout catholic though the families of his victims never forgave his murders.
He spent much of his time in jail producing extraordinary drawings and paintings.
After his execution, and following his wish,
his ashes were scattered in the monastery
of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence where Vincent Van Gogh underwent a psychiatric treatment during the summer of 1889. In less than a century, Van Gogh became
one of the masters most sought by collectors and Boggess probably dreamed of meeting such fate. In fact he had as much talent as Van Gogh and even better talented as a draughtsman. If one shrewd dealer decided to promote his works internationally his value would then go up tremendously and Boggess might at least become a legend of the art market of the calibre of Jean-Michel Basquiat.