Seven works by graffiti artist Banksy (b.1975) made their mark amid the madness of the four sales of Contemporary Art at Sotheby's (20/12% buyers premium) on February 7-8 in both the Olympia and Bond Street salerooms.
It was Banksy's fourth soiree at Sotheby's and once again new records were set, solidifying his presence as an up-and-coming middleweight.
During the 280-lot Olympia sale camera crews milled around his canvases, apart from Bombing Middle England, which was proudly hung behind the auctioneer's rostrum. This unique, signed 3ft 1/2in x 6ft (92cm x 1.8m) spraypaint stencil on canvas was in perfect condition and was commissioned directly from the artist by the vendor in 2001.
It was the only lot given a fold-out page in the Olympia catalogue and predictably proved the most successful, drawing commission bids and competition from two in the room and two on the phone before selling to one of the latter, a private collector, at £85,000. This set a new world record for the artist, smashing his previous record of £48,000 bid for Mona Lisa in October.
Two other Banksys easily went above estimate, but oddly the room hushed when bidding opened for Precision Bombing, a 17in x 18in (43 x 46cm) acrylic and spraypaint stencil on canvas. Looking slightly baffled, auctioneer Harry Dalmeny declared it unsold, but specialist Ralph Taylor was quick to confirm it was purchased immediately after the auction. "It's safe to say it was an aberration and did not reflect any lack of interest." Once the four Banksys had gone under the hammer, a third of the audience left.
The sale marked the first appearance at auction for Anthony Micallef (b.1975) who like Banksy is represented by the Lazarides Gallery of Soho. His 3ft 31/2in x 2ft 71/2in (1m x 80cm) untitled 2006 acrylic on primed canvas was signed on the reverse and depicted a young girl in a flowered dress with no feet and an indecipherable face. Specialists needn't have been so cautious with their £5000-7000 estimate as it attracted commission bids and three buyers in the room before taking £20,000 on the telephone from a collector, the fifth-top price in the sale. "We certainly have great hopes for this artist. His work is extremely striking, beautiful and original, and naturally there are going to be some crossover clients," said Mr Taylor.
Both artists contributed to a grand total of £1.4m and selling rates of 82 per cent by volume and 90 per cent by value.
Banksy made his first appearance at Bond Street in the following day's 308-lot sale where bidding opened with a Banksy in the form of Ballerina with Action Man Parts, a 12in x 8in x 7in (31cm x 20cm x 18cm) painted resin sculpture from 2005. It was the first time one of his sculptures had gone under the hammer and it proved as popular as his paintings.
Several absentee bids dogged competition in the room before a private collector shelled out a quadruple-high-estimate £80,000. The sculpture was from an edition of six but specialist Alexander Branczik said he was not surprised at the price considering that it had generated widespread interest from collectors from London, Los Angeles and Europe.
"It was certainly a talking point at the view. It had strong visual irony that people responded to - the closer you look at it, the more it reveals," he said.
Both other Banksys doubled estimate, including Glory, a 22in x 321/4in (56 x 82cm) reworked print that took £60,000. This all amounted to a grand total of £14.4m, or 86 per cent sold by volume and 94 per cent by value.
Albeit anonymous, Banksy managed to convey his views on the Contemporary sales with a black and white sketch on his website of an auctioneer standing at the rostrum selling a framed white canvas with the message: I can't believe you morons actually buy this shit. Courtesy of droit de suite, the Bristol-born artist will, nevertheless, receive a share of the profits.
Determinedly anti-establishment, Banksy maintains that he can't reveal his identity because he is wanted by police for vandalising public property with his graffiti, but the art world's most-wanted member recently became the target of crime himself when thieves used an angle grinder to cut out a piece of a wall sprayed with one of his stencils of a rat bouncing a ball below a No Ball Games sign in Gloucester Gardens, Paddington. Wall in hand, the prospectors promptly posted in on eBay at £20,000 but it was removed from the site following a string of complaints ending in a lose-lose situation for the thieves and residents alike.
For those who want to experience more Banksy mania, the Andipa Gallery of Knightsbridge hosts a Banksy exhibit from February 28 to March 24, with 15 canvases and 30-plus signed limited edition prints, priced between £3500 and £100,000.
By Stephanie Harris
