Banksy's 'The Banality of the Banality of Evil' Sells for $615,000!

As a capper to Banksy's month long artist residency in New York, his artwork, 'The Banality of the Banality of Evil' finished bidding at $615,000.  The price jumped over $300,000 in the final minutes of the auction.

Pretty impressive price for a painting of a Nazi. Wonder if the buyer is going to hang this up? or just brag about it?

BanksyNY -- The Banality of an Art Auction -- ***UPDATE: Now Over $300,200!**

The auction for Banksy's art piece, 'The Banality of the Banality of Evil' is currently at $220,200, with 74 bids. This is after only one day of bidding, and still less than 24 hours into it.

Its actually kind of exciting to see these numbers jump. But the amounts are so ridiculous that it essentially like pretend money to most folks like you and me. But it is sure crazy watching those numbers climb!

Meanwhile, still waiting on Banksy's reveal for today. Usually, when Banksy has waited, it generally has meant that it is not a graffiti based piece, and also, something that Banksy wanted to last through the day without being noticed, before he claims it and the crowds go nuts. Stay tuned for Banksy's piece for October 30th!

***UPDATE -- The bidding has now jumped up to $300,200 with 83 bids***

A Closer Look at Banksy's 'Banality of Evil' -- #Richpeopleproblems

Here is a closer look at Banksy's 'Banality of Evil'.

For more history on this piece, apparently it was purchased 2 months ago from the thrift shop for $50. And then it was re-donated earlier today with a strong suggestion of where to hang it in the front window.

The bidding on this piece started at $74,000. Perhaps that was to establish the actual value, so that any amount spent over that value by the bidders is tax deductible, since the its being sold for a charitable cause. So, these rich people get to buy a Banksy and save money! #Richpeopleproblems

The bidding on Banksy's painting is currently at $157,200 with 37 bids. Click the jump for a closer look at Banksy's 'Banality of Evil'.

***UPDATE -- the auction is now at $203,100 with 48 bids***

Banksy's 'Banality of Evil' - Up for Auction Now! -- ***UPDATE: 37 Bids Currently at $157,200!***

Banksy's 'Banality of Evil' is currently up for sale for sale at a live auction. Starting bid is $74,000.

It is signed, by both artists (pic below). It does come with a Pest Control Certificate of Authenticity.

Any bidders?

***UPDATE -- Yes. There are multiple bidders. With deep pockets. Only a few hours into the bidding process, and Banksy's Banality of Evil is currently at $157,200 and has received 37 bids. Stay tuned for more!***

Banksy at the Auction House - This Is Where Street Art Goes to Die

While Banksy is busy decorating the streets of New York with his art, some rich 1%-ers are at the auction house in Paris trying to purchase a Banksy to decorate their walls.

These shots offer a glimpse into the stale and horrifically boring and out-of-touch reality of auction houses and the fine art world.

These are not the move makers and trend setters.  These are the people who have more money than ability. These are people who purchase 'coolness' rather than live it.

After seeing this, it gives one a new appreciation for pieces getting tagged or ruined on the streets. Even if the tagging sucks, at least that is organic. The auction house can sell street art, but the auction house can never package and sell what makes street art cool. The auction house is where street art goes to die.

Banksy - Better LA Than NYC

Indeed.  Dig the title.  Just sayin'.~

But as for this piece, it was announced today that this might be a teaser for an upcoming Banksy show.  Its not.  This is a flyer for an upcoming auction that is attempting to sell this Flower Girl piece from Banksy.

Talk about better out than in.  Or is it, better on the wall than off?

Another Banksy Gets Harvested from the Streets for Sale

Against all odds, Banksy's Garden Girl is going up for sale . . .

The Huffington Post is reporting that Banksy's Garden Girl plans to go for sale at auction, and that this will be the first Banksy .  The auction house expects this piece to sell for at least $150,000.

. . . maybe.

To put this piece into context, M&F was the first to report when Banksy's Garden Girl got uncovered from a layer of plywood, and then, 6 months later when the piece got covered by plexiglass.   At the time M&F titled one of the post's 'Banksy's Garden Girl Isn't Going Anywhere'.  In that feature, we pointed out how this piece is 10+ feet tall.  It was painted on a wall with cracked chipping paint that will undoubtedly crack and crumble if disturbed.  Furthermore, the wall itself is cracked with a lip of more than a half inch jutting out from the rest of the piece.  We thought at the time that this piece would never be moved because no matter what method of extraction is employed, the painting with certainly be damaged.

This Garden Girl stencil riding on La Brea is one of the last remaining Banksy's in Los Angeles, and not only would it be sad to lose this piece from the streets, but without a doubt, the for sale piece will be compromised.  

Will this sell?  Guess we will wait and see.  Someone can buy a piece of this Banksy wall, but how much is a broken piece worth?

Banksy Unauthenticated Street Piece Sells for $1.1 Million - The Establishment Takes Over

The LA Times is reporting that Banksy's 'Slave Labour' street art piece just sold at auction for $1.1 million dollars.

This Slave Labour piece has never been authenticated by Banksy's Pest Control team.  What is strange about this situation in particular is that the FBI and the Scotland Yard got involved in this case.  The FBI even released statements saying that "there is no evidence of criminality in the removal of this illegally painted" artwork.

Previous Banksy street pieces have failed to bring in high prices at auction because of the failure to be authenticated after being removed from the original locations.  It seems this whole thing might be an attempt to skirt Pest Control and authenticate Banksy's art through FBI statements.

Some have suggested that the FBI became involved because it had been rumored online that Slave Labour had been 'stolen' from the walls, but the sellers of Slave Labour listed at auction are the owners of the building itself where the art was first painted.  That single ownership of the chunk of wall seems like a simple fact to ascertain, therefore the rumors of the piece being stolen do not seem to warrant an investigation by the Scotland Yard and FBI.  However, since Pest Control refuses to authenticate street pieces, it seems like the statements issued by the FBI are an attempt by the establishment to circumvent Pest Control and validate Banksy's Slave Labour piece.  After all, even if Pest Control will not say the piece is legitimate, the biggest law enforcement agencies in Great Britain and American are issuing a tacit endorsement of the piece.

The establishment has now officially taken over the street art world.  Or at least endorsed it.

Of course, to throw one more piece of the puzzle into the bucket, it has long been established that Banksy is very particular about where he places street piece, and Banksy has put up art on buildings and structures owned by people with whom he has a previous relationship.  So maybe this was the way it was supposed to all happen?

WARNING: Ebay Charlie Brown is a Fake

Yesterday we posted a link to an ebay listing purporting to sell Banksy's Charlie Brown.

The bidding has jumped to over $5,000, and we just wanted to inform the readers that we believe this piece is a scam.

We warned at the time that it seemed sketchy since there were no original pics in the listing, and the description is deceptively vague as it gets calling the piece for sale 'a chunk of concrete with a stenciled art piece on it'.

Hopefully there is still time to cancel bids, but buyer beware!