[sjh]

I do not believe that the prices being paid at the Bonham auction are a fair reflaction of the market. I think someones trying to bolster the market (LAZ!?!?) because no one in their right mind would pay £10,000 plus taxes and sellers fee for a "I Fought the Law". Not because it's not very good but the fact that you couldn't get anyone to pay £5,000 for it yesterday.

Your thoughts are most welcome

[manchestermike]

Yes, but as has been pointed out... the people buying may never look at eBay... this scene goes a lot wider than ebay and these forums...

[graeme501]

i think the most obvious explanation is that the 'urban art' market has crossed into a new market, new investors from overseas who havent been exposed to street art are now collecting

[flypitcher]

You are right. LAZ bought at the last auction as well. But this is ART.

[sjh]

I just don't believe it. You could get all those prints for much less through reputable galleries.

[uac]

The forums do have a great influence on print sales, as far as them selling out immediately and so on, but yes i agree with manchestermike. The people buying into urban art and street art now are buying because its cool or just because they love it. They arent interested in ebay or forums, they to busy spending their millions an hookers and charlie. Remember £10k to alot of people out there is nothing and if there advisor is telling them to buy or has been asked to purchase a banksy for this person, he will make sure he does.

[dave313perry]

weve seen this happen with auctions before, so its not a one off

[hlarmy]

With all due respect to everyone here (and bear in mind that I often frequent the forum!), I cannot imagine quite a few of the bidders this evening spending their days on eBay or forums like this. A random crowd, and much different to what I was expecting.

Furthermore there is no way that someone can 'bolster the market' to that level. 75 lots and nearly all smashed their estimates (although I realise that the estimates are not a fair reflection of their value). The auction has received a huge amount of publicity in recent weeks (Times, Independent etc) which I think must have brought some big players out. Plus there's a lot of money in London and the figures we're talking here are small for many people (even the £190k!).

I do agree however that the prices are higher than 'market value'; I sat in disbelief most of the evening as prices increased way beyond what I've seen the same things sell for in recent months! Anyway, c'est la vie...

[Harveyn]

One thing is for sure if I ever sell any of my big guns (which I hope is never) then its the auction house for me.

[sjh]

So are we all going to start buying up all the signed BIN Banksy's that are still on E-Bay.

Of course we are!!

[alsbabar]

I can categorically state that Laz or anyone working for Laz did not bid on any of the items there, how do i know, because I saw them there, and saw they had no paddles, nor did they raise there arms. So put away your conspiracy theories, and as mike said, the art world has broadened out beyond this forum and ebay. I do not think for one moment Nick Walkers' prices would have been as high as they were tonight, had it not been for the article in the Sunday Times, I saw more women bidding on this stuff then men - so what does that tell you???

[buffin]

alsbabar said:

I can categorically state that Laz or anyone working for Laz did not bid on any of the items there, how do i know, because I saw them there, and saw they had no paddles, nor did they raise there arms. So put away your conspiracy theories, and as mike said, the art world has broadened out beyond this forum and ebay. I do not think for one moment Nick Walkers' prices would have been as high as they were tonight, had it not been for the article in the Sunday Times, I saw more women bidding on this stuff then men - so what does that tell you???

Not saying you are wrong but if Laz wanted a few things I doubt he would do the bidding himself. He could have left commission bids could he not?

[jamesreeve5]

alsbabar said:

I saw more women bidding on this stuff then men - so what does that tell you???

Um... that Pan has a shot of losing the Vcard finally?

*Ba DUM PA!*

Thank you thank you, I'll be here all night!

[alsbabar]

give it up buffin

when are you Laz haters going to realise, that Laz does not dictate price, the buying consumer does. Its a risky game to play and one that can burn people easily, I think Laz would be proud of what he has achieved, he, Banksy, Damien Alburn and a few others have brought urban/street art to the masses.

[ambrosiabaptism]

Can't help but think that people protecting there assets is going on, whether thats LAZ or others who cares. OK rich people can spank money better that us, but of the few rich people I have come across ALL are tight. How do you think they became rich! If they wanted an 'Urban Art' experience I doubt they woke up on Monday morning and got in a tizzy about buying at Bonhams tonight !

[buffin]

alsbabar said:

give it up buffin

when are you Laz haters going to realise, that Laz does not dictate price, the buying consumer does. Its a risky game to play and one that can burn people easily, I think Laz would be proud of what he has achieved, he, Banksy, Damien Alburn and a few others have brought urban/street art to the masses.

Have no feeling about laz at all matey. Just saying you could be talking bo**ocks

[alsbabar]

i could be, but then again there is just as much chance that I am not - you dont know matey, nor will you. I do know what i am talking about though

[jamesreeve5]

what's with all of the "matey's" going on here? I propose a ban on all pirate lingo on the Banksy forum.

[mammal2]

alsbabar said:

I can categorically state that Laz or anyone working for Laz did not bid on any of the items there, how do i know, because I saw them there, and saw they had no paddles, nor did they raise there arms. So put away your conspiracy theories, and as mike said, the art world has broadened out beyond this forum and ebay. I do not think for one moment Nick Walkers' prices would have been as high as they were tonight, had it not been for the article in the Sunday Times, I saw more women bidding on this stuff then men - so what does that tell you???

I was there and there seemed to be a great number of bids from the phone. Without doubt Laz bids now and then. Its in his interest. A couple of canvas examples here where Steve did not manage Banksy and just took photos. Alsbabar you talk shit most of the time but to categorically say Laz does not bid is stupid and simple bullshit. You dont know, nor do I. You are no guru and as far as I know have no knowledge of telephone bids. I just saw alot of rich folk bidding like crazy. Does this mean you know all relations in the auction house. No. The formica was gifted to Bens brother for fucks sake. Never saw Ben Eine, but im sure as hell his bro was looking!

[mammal2]

alsbabar said:

give it up buffin

when are you Laz haters going to realise, that Laz does not dictate price, the buying consumer does. Its a risky game to play and one that can burn people easily, I think Laz would be proud of what he has achieved, he, Banksy, Damien Alburn and a few others have brought urban/street art to the masses.

They sure have! Damien Hirst and his Cube posse are fucking masters at this. Damien was recently (and proven) to be part of an invest group that bid on his own piece for 100 million. At the end of the day, no one on here knows jack shit about what goes on behind the scenes. Its our passion to collect art, but to say you know for sure what is going on is playground chat. If you had any insider knowledge you would be working for Laz or POW and would not be spending such a great deal of time on a message board. p.s what the hell have Blur got to do with anything? Oh, Crazy Beat! Brilliant!

[funster]

Hi all, I don't really like to say this but... many people I know earn atleast £1m a year, compared to sitting at ebay or pressing f5 all day to be able to turn up at bonhams, drink champagne and then bid on something for a mere £20k is a bargain, whatever it cost the original owner. Whilst I don't subscribe to this mentality myself (as is proven by my collection) I do certainly know it exists.

[manty]

Just a little bit of perspective on how much money there is in the art world, I had an email from Sothebys with the results on their Modern art auction a few yards down the road from Bonhams

there was 77 lots and in total it made


Sale Total: 116,699,900 GBP

which without my trusty calculator is around £1.5 Million per picture

[trowel]

fun10ver said:

Hi all, I don't really like to say this but... many people I know earn atleast £1m a year, compared to sitting at ebay or pressing f5 all day to be able to turn up at bonhams, drink champagne and then bid on something for a mere £20k is a bargain, whatever it cost the original owner. Whilst I don't subscribe to this mentality myself (as is proven by my collection) I do certainly know it exists.

Yep, from working with a number of people who'd fall into this category I agree 100% that they'd have no problem going out and splashing out a wedge purely to be able to brag about owning a massive piece of pop culture for years to come. Money is no object as they really have no idea what's going on; if the auction is at that price, then it must be worth that price.

Adam Neate - £43k,
Nick Walker - £54k,
A Banksy on your Mastercard bill - priceless.

[funster]

bigman said:

most people i have ever seen on here at night???

I'm buzzing Just out of interest did anyone else feel dispondant after the results? I did.

[funster]

bigman said:

why funster?

Although I joined this scene relatively late, tonight I felt like the big boyz had come and taken the ball away I'd still hoped to get a few more pieces, but if tonights prices are the new prices then I'm done for. Having said that though today I bought the Neverwork piece and the piece Jed did, both of which give me satisfaction

[alsbabar]

mammal2 said:

alsbabar said:

give it up buffin

when are you Laz haters going to realise, that Laz does not dictate price, the buying consumer does. Its a risky game to play and one that can burn people easily, I think Laz would be proud of what he has achieved, he, Banksy, Damien Alburn and a few others have brought urban/street art to the masses.

They sure have! Damien Hirst and his Cube posse are f**king masters at this. Damien was recently (and proven) to be part of an invest group that bid on his own piece for 100 million. At the end of the day, no one on here knows jack s**t about what goes on behind the scenes. Its our passion to collect art, but to say you know for sure what is going on is playground chat. If you had any insider knowledge you would be working for Laz or POW and would not be spending such a great deal of time on a message board. p.s what the hell have Blur got to do with anything? Oh, Crazy Beat! Brilliant!

Mammal - Damien Alburn (Blur) owns approx 60% of POW

thats what!!!

[guest2]

alsbabar said:

mammal2 said:

They sure have! Damien Hirst and his Cube posse are f**king masters at this. Damien was recently (and proven) to be part of an invest group that bid on his own piece for 100 million. At the end of the day, no one on here knows jack s**t about what goes on behind the scenes. Its our passion to collect art, but to say you know for sure what is going on is playground chat. If you had any insider knowledge you would be working for Laz or POW and would not be spending such a great deal of time on a message board. p.s what the hell have Blur got to do with anything? Oh, Crazy Beat! Brilliant!

Mammal - Damien Alburn (Blur) owns approx 60% of POW

thats what!!!

I think you mean Jamie Hewlett

[graeme501]

buy anything nice f ?

[trowel]

alsbabar said:

mammal2 said:

They sure have! Damien Hirst and his Cube posse are f**king masters at this. Damien was recently (and proven) to be part of an invest group that bid on his own piece for 100 million. At the end of the day, no one on here knows jack s**t about what goes on behind the scenes. Its our passion to collect art, but to say you know for sure what is going on is playground chat. If you had any insider knowledge you would be working for Laz or POW and would not be spending such a great deal of time on a message board. p.s what the hell have Blur got to do with anything? Oh, Crazy Beat! Brilliant!

Mammal - Damien Alburn (Blur) owns approx 60% of POW

thats what!!!

Jamie Hewlett you mean - same horse different jockey

[Jamesy Wamesy]

So what i something fishy is going on. These prices are good for the market, firming up a little after the falls we have seen over the past few months..