- Title: Banksy street art to go under the hammer in Los Angeles
- Date: 11th May 2017
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) VIEW OF ART WORKS UP FOR AUCTION PAN OF BANKSY WORKS UP FOR AUCTION VIEW OF BANKSY'S "UMBRELLA RAT" (2003/04) BLACK AEROSOL ON METAL DOOR (ESTIMATE: $30,000 - $50,000) PAN OF DOOR PANEL WITH "UMBRELLA RAT" CLOSE-UP OF "UMBRELLA RAT" AUCTIONEER MICHAEL DOYLE SPEAKING WITH TWO MEN (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUCTIONEER MICHAEL DOYLE, SAYING: "Certainly, so we have almost a dozen Banksy works that are going to be coming up in our Banksy and street art auction on May 11. Behind me we have 'Umbrella Rat' which he created in Berlin in 2003 and at that time he was touring the city and he created over 30 art works and this is actually a door panel that was removed that has one of his original umbrella rat stencils on it." MORE OF BANKSY'S "UMBRELLA RAT" (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUCTIONEER MICHAEL DOYLE, SAYING: "So this was actually a private building that he created the artwork on and subsequently a collector recognized the work and actually purchased the door from the building owner so yeah, it's been in a private collection since and most of the time examples of these get covered up by the city or different private building owners so it's very rare to find an existing piece of street art that, you know, is actually from the streets of his so that's why we're very pleased to offer this and it has an estimate of $30,000 - $50,000 on it but we totally expect that it could break $100,000 at auction." VIEW OF WORKS BY BANKSY UP FOR AUCTION PAN OF "BLACK BOBBY" BY BANKSY, BLACK AEROSOL ON WOOD PANEL (ESTIMATE $20,000 - $40,000) MORE OF "BLACK BOBBY" BY BANKSY (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUCTIONEER MICHAEL DOYLE, SAYING: "Certainly, so this is Banksy's 'Black Bobby.' He created this in 2003, he actually did a show in Australia, this was really before he gained a big name for himself but this is a black aerosol stencil that is of a British bobby, a policeman, you can tell, identify him by the hat he's wearing that he's obviously a British policeman writing out a ticket. So, this is some imagery that Banksy has played on several times over the course of his career and is a very rare example of an original, early work from his Sydney show." MORE OF "BLACK BOBBY" BY BANKSY (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUCTIONEER MICHAEL DOYLE, SAYING: "So we have a conservative auction estimate of $20,000 to $40,000 on this piece but honestly we already have significant interest and we would expect that it would go over high estimate and piece like this have sold for over $100,000 at auction." "BLACK BOBBY"/PAN OUT TO OTHER WORKS BY BANKSY UP FOR AUCTION PAN OF BANKSY'S "BOMB LOVE," SILKSCREEN ON PAPER (ESTIMATE $5,000 TO $7,000) CLOSE-UP OF BANKSY SIGNATURE (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUCTIONEER MICHAEL DOYLE, SAYING: "So he just opened his Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem which is, you know, a parody on the Waldorf Astoria. And especially now, in these political times, his artwork is taking on even increasing significance and being valued higher because the political message speaks to people more directly." VIEW OF SILKSCREEN PRINT OF BANKSY'S "TOXIC MARY"/ SHEPARD FAIREY'S "CHANGE 2008" PRINT MORE OF SHEPARD FAIREY'S "CHANGE 2008" PRINT (ESTIMATE: $2,000 - $4,000) (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUCTIONEER MICHAEL DOYLE, SAYING: "The Banksy section is the highlighted section in the auction. But in addition to that we have highlights by Shepard Fairey, for example we have one of his Obama hope posters that he designed that is behind me that is actually signed by Obama and Shepard Fairey, a very rare example of that. In addition, we have works by Andy Warhol and several other big name street artists like RETNA and Cause and yeah, we are going to be having a public exhibition for all the material at our Los Angeles gallery." CLOSE-UP OF FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S SIGNATURE ON "CHANGE 2008" PRINT BY SHEPARD FAIREY CLOSE-UP OF SHEPARD FAIREY'S SIGNATURE ON "CHANGE 2008" PRINT PAN OF SHEPARD FAIREY'S "CHANGE 2008" PRINT VARIOUS OF ANDY WARHOL'S "MICK JAGGER II.147" (1975) (ESTIMATE: $30,000 - $40,000) (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUCTIONEER MICHAEL DOYLE, SAYING: "So this is Andy Warhol's Mick Jagger. This work was done in 1975 and is both signed by Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones and Andy Warhol. We have it conservatively estimated at $30,000 - $40,000 but it is a very sought-after piece that we think will go much higher at auction." CLOSE-UP OF MICK JAGGER'S SIGNATURE CLOSE-UP OF ANY WARHOL'S SIGNATURE MORE OF ANDY WARHOL'S "MICK JAGGER II.147" (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUCTIONEER MICHAEL DOYLE, SAYING: "So this auction is estimated at $800,000 to $1,000,000, most likely with several of these Banksy pieces estimated very conservatively, we think it will easily sell for over $1,000,000 altogether." VARIOUS OF BANKSY'S "TROLLIES" SILKSCREEN ON PAPER (ESTIMATE: $8,000 - $12,000) VARIOUS OF "BANKSY'S "TOXIC MARY" SILKSCREEN PRINT ON PAPER
- Embargoed: 25th May 2017 01:24
- Keywords: Los Angeles auction street art Banksy
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Art,Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Human Interest / Brights / Odd News
- Reuters ID: LVA0016GE7595
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:More than a dozen works by the elusive British graffiti artist Banksy are among a collection of street and contemporary art up for auction in Los Angeles on Thursday (May 11).
Banksy's "Umbrella Rat," an original aerosol stencil of a rat holding an umbrella that was found on a metal door in Berlin, is one of the top items on offer by Julien's Auctions, estimated between $30,000 to $50,000.
Michael Doyle, an auctioneer at Julien's, said "Umbrella Rat" could fetch as much as $100,000.
"Most of the time these (works) get covered up by the city or different private building owners so it's very rare to find an existing piece of street art that is actually from the streets," said auctioneer Doyle.
Other Banksy works expected to go under the hammer at the May 11 auction include "Black Bobby," a 2003 black aerosol stencil of a British policeman estimated to fetch between $20,000 and $40,000. A 2004 screenprint entitled "Bomb Love," of a girl hugging a missile, is expected to fetch upward of $5,000.
British artist Banksy - who is presumed to be a man but has kept his identity secret - rose to prominence through the Bristol street art scene in the west of England.
He is known for creating works on buildings displaying ironic and provocative social commentary, and political stunts such as his recently opened 'Walled Off Hotel' in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.
The artist also made international headlines on Sunday (May 7) when he took on Brexit with a mural of a workman chipping away one of the 12 gold stars on the flag of the European Union on a wall in Dover, the ferry port that connects England with Calais in France.
"In these political times, his artwork is taking on even increasing significance and being valued higher because the political message speaks to people more directly," Doyle said.
The highest price for a work of art by Banksy was set in 2008 when "Keep It Spotless," was sold for $1.8 million at Sotheby's in New York.
The auction in Los Angeles will also feature a 1975 Andy Warhol screenprint of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, estimated between $30,000 and $40,000, and works by Shepard Fairey, best known for creating the "Hope" poster for Barack Obama's 2008 U.S. presidential campaign. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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