Banksy painting of chimpanzees in parliament sells for record US$12 million
- Auctioneer declares ‘history being made’ as bids comfortably surpass estimated price of US$1.9 million to US$2.5 million
- Despite being painted in 2009, work has drawn comparisons to current-day politics, namely exchanges in Britain’s House of Commons over Brexit
A large Banksy painting depicting primates sitting in Britain’s parliament sold for more than US$12 million on Thursday, a record price at auction for a work by the secretive British street artist, according to Sotheby’s.
Devolved Parliament, in which chimpanzees replace politicians in the House of Commons, more than comfortably surpassed its estimated price tag of £1.5 million to £2 million (US$1.9 million to US$2.5 million), with the auctioneer declaring “history being made” at one point during the sale, which was streamed live.
After bidding that lasted some 13 minutes, the 2009 artwork from a private collection sold to loud applause for a hammer price of £8.5 million, to which fees are added, giving a final price of £9,879,500 (US$12.2 million).
“Record price for a Banksy painting set at auction tonight. Shame I didn’t still own it,” Banksy wrote on his Instagram feed beside a post quoting art critic Robert Hughes about the value of artworks.
“ … The price of a work of art is now part of its function, its new job is to sit on the wall and get more expensive. Instead of being the common property of humankind the way a book is, art becomes the particular property of someone who can afford it,” the Instagram post quoted Hughes as saying.