John was fortunate enough to have two major patrons, who each have substantial private collections of his work. He met Damon de Laszlo when he was commissioned to sculpt his children, and it was Damon who realised that John's abstract work was really his artistic future. The other one was American Robert Hefner III, who had spotted John's abstract work in his gallery in Mayfair. When Robert popped into the gallery in the early 1980's, the manager hadn't been able to get contact details for Robert, but knew he would be worth introducing to John. Margie came up with the plan to call all the posh local hotels to see if he was staying there and they got lucky with their fourth attempt - Claridge's. John and Robert immediately hit it off, Robert became a great supporter and accumulated a great collection of John Robinson's works which all recently moved with him from Aspen to Virginia. Peter says: “It was great growing up with John as a father, mentor and friend. I was lucky enough to be able to do an apprenticeship with him and although I helped him with his sculptures during that time, he also helped me with the direction my own work was going to take.”

Fascinated by the anthropology and ancient art, John set up the Bradshaw Foundation in 1989 with his two patrons to promote the study of early man's artistic achievements. The auction will include over 50 works by John Robinson of which 20% are abstract works. The majority are bronzes, but there are also several resin sculptures, stainless steel and plaster works as well as several paintings in the style of famous artists.