We expect certain artists to sell for millions at auction, but would we ever have thought that a vandal would become one of the biggest names in contemporary art? The pseudonymous artist known as Banksy has disrupted the art market yet again, with the recent sale at Sotheby’s of the painting Devolved Parliament (which depicts MPs as chimps in the House of Commons) for £9.9 million, five times its estimate. It was a world record...
Peter Harrington Gallery is launching a new modern and contemporary prints catalogue containing 69 rare and limited edition prints by artists including Salvador Dali, Damien Hirst, Roy Lichtenstein, L.S Lowry, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. Kevin Finch, manager of Peter Harrington Gallery says: “We are very excited to launch this new catalogue which contains a wide range of fabulous items for sale, many by very well-known artists. Signed prints offer an exciting and more affordable...
A mural by mysterious graffiti artist Banksy is to be moved from a garage wall in Port Talbot to a new gallery in the town. Essex-based gallery owner John Brandler paid a six-figure sum for Seasons Greetings, and described it as one of the artist’s most important works. The graffiti on steelworker Ian Lewis’ garage appeared overnight in December 2018. Contractors begin transferring the piece, painted across two...
A Banksy artwork that was painted to memorialise the victims of a 2015 terror attack in Paris has been stolen. The black and white work depicted a mournful female figure wearing a veil and was reportedly cut out of the emergency doors at the Bataclan concert hall, where it paid homage to the 90 people killed at the venue in November 2015. The concert hall reported the theft in a tweet on Saturday. ‘It’s a...
The notorious Banksy strikes again. Season’s Greetings, which appeared on the side of a nondescript garage in Port Talbot just before Christmas in 2018, has been sold to a private dealer for a six-figure sum. About 20,000 people are thought to have made their way to visit the anonymous street artist’s latest mural since it was discovered in the Welsh town, but the graffiti now belongs to Essex-based Banksy expert John Brandler. After finding himself...
American street artist Ron English has announced his plans to paint over a Banksy artwork after paying £561,000 for it. Slave Labour (Bunting Boy), a celebrated work by Banksy and painted on the side of a North London Poundland in 2012, joined more of the elusive street artists’ work at the Street & Contemporary Art auction held by Juliens Auctions on Wednesday November 14. One of the most publicised examples of Banksy’s social commentary, the...
Anonymous street artist Banksy released a video on his official website showing a ‘practice run’ shredding of his famous million-pound Girl With Balloon (2006). Shred the Love (the director’s cut), which was posted on Tuesday 17 October, implies the stunt pulled at the Sotheby’s auction should have ended with the artwork being completely destroyed. In the video, Banksy himself is shown constructing the shredding mechanism. The clip also features recordings from the auction itself—including clips...
Anonymous street artist and political activist Banksy strikes again. One of his most recognisable paintings, Girl With Balloon (2006), self-destructed immediately after it went under the hammer for an astounding £1.04 million. The artwork was initially estimated to fetch £200,000-300,000. The stunt left auctioneers attending Sotheby’s London’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction on 5 October 2018 completely speechless. It is still unclear what the ramifications are for the art world, the auction house and the buyer,...
The sale of Banksy’s Civilian Drone Strike (2017) has raised £205k for groups against arms trade. The piece was sold at auction by Art the Arms Fair—an exhibition opposing an arms fair that took place in East London. Within the first week of Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair in ExCeL London, more than 100 protesters were reportedly arrested. The money from the sale of Banksy’s Civilian Drone Strike will be split between...
A van once used by SWAT teams and spray painted by the world’s best known street artist, Banksy, has sold at auction for £218,500 at Bonhams, London in June 2016. On one side of the van Bansky has spray-painted heavily armed Special Forces being duped by a small boy, and on the other side, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz is set amongst tag-style graffiti. The back of Banksy’s SWAT van reads ‘How’s My Bombing? Call...
