(Photo: Annie Spratt)
Banksy painting worth nearly $10 million at auction
The latest Banksy painting “Show Me the Monet” sold at an auction at Sotheby’s London for £7.6 million ($9.8) million to an unidentified bidder. This painting is Banksy’s version of the famous Impressionist painting by Monet and is the second-highest price ever paid for a British street art piece.
The 2005 work depicts Claude Monet’s painting water lily painting of the Giverny garden with abandoned shopping carts and orange traffic cones.
“Show Me the Monet” surpassed the upper pre-sale estimate of £5 million only a year after the success of the auctioning another artwork “Devolved Parliament” for £9.9 million. Another one of Banky’s pieces “Forgive Us Our Trespassing” sold for $8.3 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.
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Banksy’s ‘Show Me The Monet’ smashes expectations at auction as it fetches over £7.5 million
➡️ https://t.co/qbZSw8Y92I#art #artforourplanet #pollution #environment pic.twitter.com/gnAWnnDK8u
— Art For Our Planet (@ArtForOurPlanet) October 22, 2020
Banksy pieces have proved to be worth millions but he also has a strict rule about selling his pieces of art. Unfortunately for one man attempting to sell one of Banksy’s street art pieces on BBC “Antiques Roadshow.”
The unlucky attempted art dealer explained to the “Antiques Roadshow” expert, Rupert Maas, that the Banksy piece was from 2004 and he stole the street art piece off a wall at the Saltdean Lido in Brighton. The stolen piece of art depicted a rat operating a power drill and the attempted art dealer explained he noticed that it was attached to the wall so he took it upon himself to rip it off so he could steal it.
@bbcsoutheast This man on #antiquesroadshow admits he stole a Banksy off a wall in Brighton how do we get it back?! It's worth 20k pic.twitter.com/PmnIQqcEtv
— Emmajane37 (@emmajane37) October 18, 2020
The expert Maas explained that Banksy’s art manager is very strict in granting certificates of authenticity that are needed to sell the piece, especially when it comes to public domain pieces. Maas further explains that Banksy works that are removed from the public domain are meant for the public and not to be stolen or sold meaning it’s nearly impossible to gain a certificate of authenticity.
Maas says that Banksy calls it “pest control” to prevent people from attempting to remove pieces of art meant for the public. Maas estimated that the work of art could cost up to £20,000 with a certificate of authenticity but advises that public pieces of art should be left because that piece of art was intended to stay where it was installed.
