Art

Banksy painting of chimps in Commons sells for over €10m

Devolved Parliament sets new record price for work by the British artist at auction

Gallery assistants pose as British artist Banksy’s work Devolved Parliament at a photo-call at Sotheby’s auction house in London on September 27th. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Thu Oct 3 2019 - 20:40

A large Banksy painting depicting primates sitting in Britain’s parliament sold for more than €10 million on Thursday, a record price at auction for a work by the secretive British street artist, according to Sotheby’s.

The auction house said Devolved Parliament, in which chimpanzees replace politicians in the House of Commons, had an estimated price tag of €1.6 million to €2.2 million going into the sale.

During bidding that lasted some 13 minutes, it sold for a hammer price of €9.5 million, to which fees are added giving a final price of €11.1 ,million.

Before Thursday’s sale, the auction record for a Banksy work was €2.1 million for Keep it Spotless which sold at Sotheby’s in New York in 2008, the auction house said. – Reuters