Banksy artwork depicting MPs as chimpanzees sold for £10m
Banksy piece portraying the House of Commons filled with chimpanzees sells for almost £10 MILLION – a record for the mysterious artist
- Devolved Parliament has been sold for £9.9 million, a record for the street artist
- It went under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London on Thursday evening
- The sale beats the previous auction record for a Banksy, which is thought to be the £1.4 million ($1.8 million) paid for Keep It Spotless in Sotheby’s New York
- Following the sale Banksy wrote on Instagram: ‘Shame I didn’t still own it’
A Banksy artwork depicting MPs in the House of Commons as chimpanzees has been sold for £9.9 million, in what organisers say is a record for the street artist.
Devolved Parliament, which is four metres wide, went under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London on Thursday and sold for £9,879,500 after 13 minutes of bidding.
The artwork, which had a guide price of between £1.5-2 million, was first unveiled as part of the Bristol artist’s exhibition Banksy vs Bristol Museum in 2009.
Devolved Parliament, which is four metres wide, was first unveiled as part of the Bristol artist’s exhibition Banksy vs Bristol Museum in 2009. It went under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London on Thursday and after 13 minutes of bidding, sold for £9,879,500
That beats the previous auction record for a Banksy, which is thought to be the £1.4 million ($1.8 million) paid for Keep It Spotless, which was sold at Sotheby’s in New York.
Shortly after Devolved Parliament was sold, Banksy reacted on Instagram. ‘Record price for a Banksy painting set at auction tonight,’ he wrote. Shame I didn’t still own it.’
He then quoted art critic Robert Hughes about the value of artworks, posting: ‘… The price of a work of art is now part of its function, its new job is to sit on the wall and get more expensive.
Banksy’s Devolved Parliament is displayed to the press during the preview for Sothebys Frieze Week Contemporary Art Auctions at Sotheby’s on September 27, 2019
‘Instead of being the common property of humankind the way a book is, art becomes the particular property of someone who can afford it,’ the Instagram post quoted Hughes as saying.
After Devolved Parliament went on display in March, Banksy wrote on Instagram: ‘Devolved Parliament. I made this 10 years ago. Bristol museum have just put it back on display to mark Brexit day.’
His post ended with the quote: ‘Laugh now, but one day no-one will be in charge.’
Chimpanzees first appeared in his work in 2002, with his piece Laugh Now.
Shortly after Devolved Parliament was sold, Banksy reacted on Instagram. ‘Record price for a Banksy painting set at auction tonight,’ he wrote. Shame I didn’t still own it’
Banksy’s Devolved Parliament is displayed to the press during the preview for Sothebys Frieze Week Contemporary Art Auctions at Sotheby’s on September 27, 2019 in London, England
The painting shows a row of apes wearing aprons carrying the inscription ‘Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge’.
In 2009, Banksy said of Devolved Parliament: ‘You paint 100 chimpanzees and they still call you a guerrilla artist.’
Girl and Balloon (pink) – a Banksy print
Thursday’s auction took place almost a year after Banksy’s Girl With The Balloon partially shredded itself as the gavel came down at Sotheby’s, becoming the freshly titled Love Is In The Bin.
Despite being painted in 2009, many commentators had drawn comparisons to current-day politics, namely the increasingly brutish exchanges in the House of Commons over Britain´s pending departure from the European Union, or Brexit.
The Bristol-born artist, who keeps his identity a secret, is known for his political or social-commentary graffiti work that has popped up in cities around the world.
Thursday’s sale came a year after another Banksy canvas, ‘Girl with Balloon’ shredded itself in front of shocked onlookers at a Sotheby´s auction just as it was sold.
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