Works by graffiti artist Banksy fetch over $1M
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | 4:23 PM ET
CBC News
Eleven works by graffiti artist Banksy sold for more than their estimates at a London auction Wednesday, pulling in £546,000 ($1.08 million) in total.
The most expensive work was Avon and Somerset Constabulary, a spray paint and oil canvas featuring two policemen, which fetched $159,000 before premium and taxes.
Attack of the Badly Drawn Boy sold for $129,000, more than twice its estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.
Untitled, Rat and Sword went for $128,900 and Di-faced Tenners, a print of £10 notes in which the Queen's face has been replaced by Diana, Princess of Wales, went for $47,700.
The 10 paintings and a print were expected to sell for up to £300,000, but Banksy has developed a large following that is boosting the prices of his work.
One of his works went for $240,000 earlier this year.
The guerrilla artist has grabbed headlines with projects such as erecting a life-size figure of a Guantanamo Bay detainee at Disneyland and doctoring copies of a Paris Hilton album.
Banksy has managed to remain anonymous despite his international following.
"Perhaps the most incredible aspect of the Banksy phenomenon ...(is) that as a self-confessed guerrilla artist, he has been so wholeheartedly embraced by the very establishment he satirizes," said Bonhams representative Gareth Williams.
"We are sure that this irony is not lost on today's buyers."
Earlier this week, officials in east London said they would be painting over Banksy murals on walls in their area, as they consider them vandalism.
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