A “street art” auction in Los Angeles raised nearly $1 million after bidders snapped up some of Banksy's most famous pieces.
Hosted by Julien's Auctions, the event featured 20 iconic works by street artists – including Banksy, Invader and RETNA.
Thursday's auction took place in front of a live audience in Los Angeles, but hundreds of bidders and collectors from around the world participated online.
The total came to a whopping $900,000 – with most pieces doubling the estimated value of the predicted bids.
Banksy's London Turf War Exhibition stencil painting “Police Van Chimp” sold for $222,250 – double its original estimate and the highest price of the evening.
Pictured: Banksy's London Turf War Exhibition stencil painting “Police Van Chimp,” which sold for $222,250 at Thursday's auction
Pictured: Banksy's Liverpool stencil painting “Gangsta Rat – Live,” which sold for $190,500 at Julien's Auction in Los Angeles
Pictured: Banksy's London stencil painting “Mayfair Paparazzi Rat,” which sold for $142,875 at Julien's Auction on Thursday
This piece is an original aerosol painting on glass that was part of Banksy's groundbreaking 2003 “Turf War” exhibition, which took place in an abandoned London warehouse.
The second most expensive was another of Banksy's infamous works – “Gangsta Rat Live”, a stencil painting from Liverpool that sold for more than double its original estimate of $190,500.
“Gangsta Rat Live” is an original aerosol on a metal door that was installed on a British Telecom street box in Liverpool, England around 2004.
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose identity was revealed in 2008 but remains the subject of speculation.
Banksy's stencil painting “Crazy Horse” from New York City sold for $162,500, and his stencil painting “Mayfair Paparazzi Rat” from London sold for $142,875, more than three times the original estimate.
The next highest sellers were five of Invader's most famous international mosaics, each fetching over $19,000.
Pictured: Banksy's New York stencil painting “Crazy Horse,” which sold for $162,500 at auction on Thursday
Pictured: Invader's original “PA-605” Paris mosaic, which sold for $25,400 at Thursday night's auction
Pictured: Invader's original Parisian mosaic “PA5955,” which sold for $19,500 at Thursday night's auction
One of the pieces was Invader's original “POTI-50,” which was released in 2022 in PotosÃ, Bolivia, a city 4,000 meters above sea level, to mark its 4,000th anniversary. Mosaics were installed. It sold for $29,250 after being estimated at just $6,000.
Banksy's identity was one of the world's best-kept secrets until his name was revealed in 2008 – but that hasn't stopped people from speculating.
The street artist, whose career began in the '90s, is known to millions of people through the appearance of dozens of iconic works of art in unexpected places around the world, many of which later sold for millions.
His identity has been a hot topic for years, with names like Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja and Gorillaz founder Jamie Hewlett being bandied about.
Private school student Robin Gunningham was exposed as Banksy by the Mail On Sunday in 2008 following an investigation into his past.
Regardless of who owns it, Banksy's works are a sought-after item on the art market.
In 2021, his work “Love is in the Bin” was purchased for more than 18 million pounds (around $23,000), with its value increased after a paper shredder hidden in its frame cut it into pieces shortly after the initial sale 2018.
The work, previously known as “Girl with a Balloon,” was just one of more than a dozen of Banksy's creations that sold for more than 2 million pounds ($2.5 million).