[eigengrau]

Hi Everyone, 

I am trying to sell two Petrol Bomb prints I bought at the original sale in Bristol. I contacted Christies a few weeks back (they sold one last year) and they've said no - not given me a reason yet, but I'm assuming it's to do with a lack of certificate/receipt... even though I'm pretty sure they can't be authenticated (?)/the one they sold wasn't. 

The only sort of proof I have is I'm in the video someone filmed of the queue outside that's on youtube - unfortunately though you can only see the back of my head (you can see half my ex's face but I don't really want to contact him to attest he was with me). Handily I happen to have another picture of the back of my head from the month before while I was in rehearsals for a promo I was shooting - but not sure back of the head comparisons are adequate (the only other thing is you can just about see that I'm hyperextending my arms in the video as I'm double jointed and was in pain - but again not sure sending people pictures of my twisty arms is enough!). I was living off Stokes Croft during the riots and there's plenty of evidence I was in Bristol at the time because there's write ups of me as a filmmaker from the same year.  

Do you think any of the above be helpful or would I just be making an idiot of myself sending people pictures of the back of my head? Is there any other evidence can I offer to prospective buyers that it's genuine? Or could anyone recommend any UK based Banksy dealers who would be confident in knowing what to look for (as in someone I could take to physically for them to assess before consignment) - I'm not an art collector, just a random filmmaker who thought I should get some prints to hold onto in case one day I'd be able to fund a feature film with them (turns out not quite - but still enough to fund a short so it's cool).  The posters have been in storage for a decade (rolled up) so in pretty good condition aside from needing to be flattened. 

[eigengrau]

Here's some pictures (note all but the one being held are in artificial light) 

[krywolf79]

has it been rolled all thoseyears?
what u want for it??

[eigengrau]

Yea they've been rolled up under a bed at my mum's for a decade (never been hung - pretty much as I got them handed to me at the original sale - first time I've flattened them was to take the pictures).

£5K each ideally because of the condition. 

[Lroy]

Aug 26, 2021 7:42:56 GMT 1 eigengrau said:

Yea they've been rolled up under a bed at my mums for a decade.

£5K each ideally because of the condition. 

I tho ought in the title that you wanted to know if it’s legit or not ?
There are threads about.
This one seems legit and I think that you known it as you want 5 k..
Strange, these roll waves, paper was not so thick..

[extraball]

Aug 26, 2021 7:42:56 GMT 1 eigengrau said:

Yea they've been rolled up under a bed at my mums for a decade.

£5K each ideally because of the condition. 

I do not recommend leaving your prints rolled in a tube for too long. store them flat

[extraball]

Aug 26, 2021 5:07:57 GMT 1 eigengrau said:

Hi Everyone, 

I am trying to sell two Petrol Bomb prints I bought at the original sale in Bristol. I contacted Christies a few weeks back (they sold one last year) and they've said no - not given me a reason yet, but I'm assuming it's to do with a lack of certificate/receipt... even though I'm pretty sure they can't be authenticated (?)/the one they sold wasn't. 

The only sort of proof I have is I'm in the video someone filmed of the queue outside that's on youtube - unfortunately though you can only see the back of my head (you can see half my ex's face but I don't really want to contact him to attest he was with me). Handily I happen to have another picture of the back of my head from the month before while I was in rehearsals for a promo I was shooting - but not sure back of the head comparisons are adequate (the only other thing is you can just about see that I'm hyperextending my arms in the video as I'm double jointed and was in pain - but again not sure sending people pictures of my twisty arms is enough!). I was living off Stokes Croft during the riots and there's plenty of evidence I was in Bristol at the time because there's write ups of me as a filmmaker from the same year.  

Do you think any of the above be helpful or would I just be making an idiot of myself sending people pictures of the back of my head? Is there any other evidence can I offer to prospective buyers that it's genuine? Or could anyone recommend any UK based Banksy dealers who would be confident in knowing what to look for (as in someone I could take to physically for them to assess before consignment) - I'm not an art collector, just a random filmmaker who thought I should get some prints to hold onto in case one day I'd be able to fund a feature film with them (turns out not quite - but still enough to fund a short so it's cool).  The posters have been in storage for a decade (rolled up) so in pretty good condition aside from needing to be flattened. 

I think you can easily understand why Christies refuses your prints because as proof of origin, they must have better

[eigengrau]

Aug 26, 2021 8:06:53 GMT 1 Lroy said:

Aug 26, 2021 7:42:56 GMT 1 eigengrau said:

Yea they've been rolled up under a bed at my mums for a decade.

£5K each ideally because of the condition. 

I tho ought in the title that you wanted to know if it’s legit or not ?
There are threads about.
This one seems legit and I think that you known it as you want 5 k..
Strange, these roll waves, paper was not so thick..

I'd say the paper is quite thick from my perspective (it's certainly thicker than any 'poster' I've ever bought) ...and they have been rolled for a decade.

I know it's legit because I bought it in the original sale, my issue is establishing adequate authenticity/provenance for buyers because obviously they're going for a lot more than the original £5. 

I don't buy or sell art so I'm not sure about the etiquette of these things... the only other relatively valuable piece I own is a signed Jan Svankmajer poster which I bought directly from him. 

[eigengrau]

Aug 26, 2021 8:06:53 GMT 1 extraball said:

Aug 26, 2021 7:42:56 GMT 1 eigengrau said:

Yea they've been rolled up under a bed at my mums for a decade.

£5K each ideally because of the condition. 

I do not recommend leaving your prints rolled in a tube for too long. store them flat

Thank you - I didn't know this. I realise not knowing must sound ridiculous to someone who actually collects art but I've just been too nervous to unroll them in case I somehow damaged them in the process - so helpful to know the opposite is true (even if I feel monumentally silly right now).  

[Lroy]

Aug 26, 2021 8:23:26 GMT 1 eigengrau said:

Aug 26, 2021 8:06:53 GMT 1 Lroy said:

I tho ought in the title that you wanted to know if it’s legit or not ?
There are threads about.
This one seems legit and I think that you known it as you want 5 k..
Strange, these roll waves, paper was not so thick..

I'd say the paper is quite thick from my perspective (it's certainly thicker than any 'poster' I've ever bought) ...and they have been rolled for a decade.

I know it's legit because I bought it in the original sale, my issue is establishing adequate authenticity/provenance for buyers because obviously they're going for a lot more than the original £5. 

I don't buy or sell art so I'm not sure about the etiquette of these things... the only other relatively valuable piece I own is a signed Jan Svankmajer poster which I bought directly from him. 

I did not found mine so thick, but maybe, why not

[kjg*****]

Would it be possible for you to post a picture of the Svankmajer poster?

[terryfuckwitt]

I expect the one sold at Christies was probably entered into the auction with other pieces. A year ago, I would have said to sell through Tate Ward, but would not advise that now due to the amount of known fakes being sold there.
I would try and offer them up for sale here, although I don't think you will get £5k, more like £3.5k.

[terryfuckwitt]

Aug 26, 2021 11:22:07 GMT 1 eigengrau said:

I can't work out whether that emoji is intended as innuendo or something else... either way I literally have no idea how to respond. So.. err...  ?

p.s. I just geeked out so much over how retro the emojis are on this forum. It's like being back in 2005 and it's glorious. 

Lol

[eigengrau]

Aug 26, 2021 11:15:45 GMT 1 terryfuckwitt said:

I expect the one sold at Christies was probably entered into the auction with other pieces. A year ago, I would have said to sell through Tate Ward, but would not advise that now due to the amount of known fakes being sold there.
I would try and offer them up for sale here, although I don't think you will get £5k, more like £3.5k.

Thanks for this, I really appreciate the heads up - and the price guide is helpful as well.  

I was saying 5K based on the one that sold at Christies - but that was a year ago and I had no idea until this morning that I was being an idiot keeping them rolled up. 

[eigengrau]

Aug 26, 2021 11:07:48 GMT 1 kjg***** said:

Would it be possible for you to post a picture of the Svankmajer poster?

Yea sure (taken when it had just arrived - it's framed now):


I paid $100 for it - but that was more to help support him making his last feature film than because I expect it to be worth anything anytime soon - I'm never going to sell it because he's my favourite filmmaker and that's my favourite film of his so I don't really mind too much. It's his late wife's design (she was his longest collaborator before she died). He sells unsigned versions for €10 directly from his studio's webshop svankmajerjan.com/z474-plakat-k-filmu--spiklenci-slasti/ (tbh if you wanted a signed version - reckon there's a good chance a politely worded email to the studio would be considered - probably much cheaper than $100 too). 

[kjg*****]

Very cool, thanks a lot! I went to the exhibition 'Jan Švankmajer - The Alchemical Wedding' a few years ago and I am totally hooked since.