A Banksy artwork has attracted bids of more than $200,000 on eBay - even though the successful bidder will have to cut out part of a concrete wall if they want to take it home.
The stencilled design, which shows a classically-dressed painter putting the finishing touches to the real artist’s scrawled name, has so far received bids topping $207,000 with less than 24 hours until the deadline.
The work appeared in September outside a post-production company in Portobello Road, west London.
It was created on a Sunday morning, when Banksy put scaffolding up and draped a cloth over it so he could work undetected.
Only after he had finished and left the area did Luti Fagbendle, the owner of the firm, realise he had become a beneficiary - or victim - of the Bristol-based artist’s latest creation.
He put a Perspex sheet over the work to stop it getting vandalised and then put it on eBay.
Any buyer must pay for the removal of the section of wall themselves if they want to take the painting away.
Banksy’s representative said the work was his, but added that the artist would not comment on the sale.
Paintings by the elusive artist, who famously hides his identity, have grown in popularity in recent years.
Fans and buyers include Christina Aguilera, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
He recently extended his canvases of choice - Bristol and east London - to include the illegal security wall in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Last year, one of his paintings, Space Girl and Bird, fetched $288,000 at auction.
Bobby Read, art expert at specialist insurer Hiscox, said: “It is a demonstration of the changing art market that the eyes of the art world are on ebay eagerly watching the sale of a wall gratified by Banksy.
“This sale confirms Banksy as a modern-day cross between Michelangelo and the Scarlet Pimpernel.”
Banksy is a well-known pseudo-anonymous English graffiti artist. He is believed to be a native of Yate (near Bristol) and born in 1974, but there is substantial public uncertainty about his identity and personal and biographical details. According to Tristan Manco, Banksy “was born in 1974 and raised in Bristol, England. The son of a photocopier engineer, he trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great Bristol aerosol boom of the late 1980s.”His artworks are often-satirical pieces of art that encompass topics such as politics, culture, and ethics. His street art, which combines graffiti with a distinctive stencilling technique, has appeared in London and in cities around the world.
More here and of course here. And whilst your at it… some stuff I’ve shot here and could this be Banksy’s flickr page?
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