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Urban Art Auction - IN THE NEWS, by Daniel Silk on Jun 18, 2008 14:43:57 GMT 1, www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aHEkOQkZy9VY&refer=muse
Banksy's Chimp, Pensioners Beat Estimates in London Art Auction
By Scott Reyburn
June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Two spray paintings by Banksy sold for an above-estimate 120,000 pounds ($234,000) each in a London sale of urban art last night.
``Laugh Now but One Day We'll Be in Charge,'' featuring a chimpanzee wearing a sandwich board, and ``Bombing Middle England,'' showing pensioners playing bowls with grenades, achieved the joint top price with fees at a sale by the U.K. regional auction house Dreweatts.
They had been expected to fetch up to 50,000 pounds and 80,000 pounds each. Both were bought by telephone bidders. The 146-lot sale in an industrial space in Shoreditch, east London, the first of its type ever organized by a regional auction house, totaled 801,204 pounds with fees against an estimate of 672,000 pounds to 977,000 pounds, with 89 percent of the lots sold during the three-hour event, the company said.
``The results were mixed in places,'' said Stephan Ludwig, chairman of Dreweatts, in an interview after the sale. ``But considering what's happening in the broader economy, particularly in an area like property, it showed that the market for this kind of art is resilient.''
The most highly valued work in the catalog was Banksy's early freehand painting, ``Portrait of an Artist.'' This failed to sell against estimates of 150,000 pounds to 200,000 pounds. Banksy's stencil-on-foam board, ``Glastonbury Sign,'' acquired by the seller directly from the artist at the 2003 Glastonbury pop festival, sold for a mid-estimate 45,600 pounds.
Banksy's Bristol
About 70 percent of the lots had been entered by the artists themselves, said Ludwig. Twenty-two artists, many of whom are based in Banksy's home town of Bristol, were being sold at auction for the first time, he said.
Among those making their auction debuts was the Bristol-based graffiti artist Cyclops, whose spray paint and acrylic on canvas work, ``Cease to Resist,'' sold for 14,400 pounds with fees, more than double the upper estimate. The catalog stated the artist had submitted the painting for sale. No established urban artists entered work into the auction, said Ludwig.
Among the market's other rising stars are the Bristolian Nick Walker and London-based Adam Neate. Walker's 2005-2007 stencil spray paint on canvas ``Mood Board,'' incorporating a brainstorm of street-art motifs, sold for 43,200 pounds, while Neate's stark head-and-shoulders portrait, ``Red Lips,'' took 48,000 pounds. The prices, broadly in line with estimates, were paid by buyers in the 300-strong crowd in the room.
`` The sale was fine, but not very exciting,'' said Mike Snelle of the London street-art gallery, Black Rat Press. ``There was a lot of work sourced from untried artists, so that made it difficult to achieve high prices.''
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aHEkOQkZy9VY&refer=museBanksy's Chimp, Pensioners Beat Estimates in London Art Auction By Scott Reyburn June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Two spray paintings by Banksy sold for an above-estimate 120,000 pounds ($234,000) each in a London sale of urban art last night. ``Laugh Now but One Day We'll Be in Charge,'' featuring a chimpanzee wearing a sandwich board, and ``Bombing Middle England,'' showing pensioners playing bowls with grenades, achieved the joint top price with fees at a sale by the U.K. regional auction house Dreweatts. They had been expected to fetch up to 50,000 pounds and 80,000 pounds each. Both were bought by telephone bidders. The 146-lot sale in an industrial space in Shoreditch, east London, the first of its type ever organized by a regional auction house, totaled 801,204 pounds with fees against an estimate of 672,000 pounds to 977,000 pounds, with 89 percent of the lots sold during the three-hour event, the company said. ``The results were mixed in places,'' said Stephan Ludwig, chairman of Dreweatts, in an interview after the sale. ``But considering what's happening in the broader economy, particularly in an area like property, it showed that the market for this kind of art is resilient.'' The most highly valued work in the catalog was Banksy's early freehand painting, ``Portrait of an Artist.'' This failed to sell against estimates of 150,000 pounds to 200,000 pounds. Banksy's stencil-on-foam board, ``Glastonbury Sign,'' acquired by the seller directly from the artist at the 2003 Glastonbury pop festival, sold for a mid-estimate 45,600 pounds. Banksy's Bristol About 70 percent of the lots had been entered by the artists themselves, said Ludwig. Twenty-two artists, many of whom are based in Banksy's home town of Bristol, were being sold at auction for the first time, he said. Among those making their auction debuts was the Bristol-based graffiti artist Cyclops, whose spray paint and acrylic on canvas work, ``Cease to Resist,'' sold for 14,400 pounds with fees, more than double the upper estimate. The catalog stated the artist had submitted the painting for sale. No established urban artists entered work into the auction, said Ludwig. Among the market's other rising stars are the Bristolian Nick Walker and London-based Adam Neate. Walker's 2005-2007 stencil spray paint on canvas ``Mood Board,'' incorporating a brainstorm of street-art motifs, sold for 43,200 pounds, while Neate's stark head-and-shoulders portrait, ``Red Lips,'' took 48,000 pounds. The prices, broadly in line with estimates, were paid by buyers in the 300-strong crowd in the room. `` The sale was fine, but not very exciting,'' said Mike Snelle of the London street-art gallery, Black Rat Press. ``There was a lot of work sourced from untried artists, so that made it difficult to achieve high prices.''
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