Queen of Hearts screenprint by Mr Brainwash – £2500 at Woolley & Wallis.
The moniker of French artist Thierry Guetta, Mr Brainwash creates pictures which are described as a mixture of pop art, street art and classical paintings which have a ‘playful and subversive’ approach.
Having previously worked on one of Madonna’s album covers, in 2021 he unveiled a large mural outside London’s new Battersea Power Station Tube stop to mark its opening.
While most of his works still tend to appear in the London rooms, in the last couple of years examples have begun to trickle into regional auctions. In March last year, Dreweatts sold a mixed media on canvas of Mickey and Minnie Mouse which made £14,000.
More recently, at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury on December 14, two pictures from 2022 were offered – making a quick appearance on the secondary market not long after their creation. Both came with certificates of authenticity.
One was a screenprint overlaid with mixed-media painting that was estimated at £7000-10,000, a pitch that proved a bit too much as it was left unsold on the day.
However, the copy of Queen of Hearts, a more regular signed screenprint from a large edition of 984, drew more competition against a £2000-3000 estimate. Seemingly the first time the edition had appeared at auction, it sold at £2500.
