L.A ‘street art’ auction featuring Banksy’s Police Van Chimp and Crazy Horse nets nearly $1million

A ‘street art’ auction in Los Angeles raised almost $1 million after bidders spent money on some of Banksy’s most famous pieces.

Presented by Julien’s auctionsThe event featured twenty iconic pieces 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 close to a whopping $900,000, with most pieces doubling the predicted bid estimate.

Banksy’s ‘Police Van Chimp’ London Turf War Exhibition stencil painting sold for $222,250, double its original estimate and the highest price of the evening.

Pictured: Banksy’s ‘Gangsta Rat – Live’ stencil painting from Liverpool, sold for $190,500 at Julien’s Auction in Los Angeles

Pictured: Banksy’s ‘Mayfair Paparazzi Rat’ London stencil painting, which sold for $142,875 at Julien’s Auction on Thursday

This piece is an original spray can painting on glass that was part of Banksy’s groundbreaking 2003 exhibition ‘Turf War’, which was staged in an abandoned warehouse in London.

The second most expensive was another infamous Banksy piece: “Gangsta Rat Live,” a Liverpool stencil painting that sold for more than double its original estimate of $190,500.

‘Gangsta Rat Live’ is an original spray can on metal door that was performed on a British Telecom street box in Liverpool, England, circa 2004.

Banksy is a pseudonymous street artist, political activist and film director from England, whose identity was exposed 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, which was more than three times the original estimate.

The next highest sellers were five of Invader’s most famous international mosaics, each fetching more than $19,000.

Pictured: Banksy’s New York City stencil painting “Crazy Horse,” which sold for $162,500 at auction on Thursday

Pictured: Invader’s original Paris mosaic ‘PA-605’, which sold for $25,400 at auction on Thursday evening

Pictured: Invader’s original ‘PA5955’ Paris mosaic, which sold for $19,500 at auction on Thursday evening

One of the pieces was Invader’s original ‘POTI-50’, which was installed in 2022 in Potosí, Bolivia, a city 4,000 meters above sea level, in honor of his 4,000th mosaic. It sold for $29,250 when it was appraised 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 1990s, is known to millions thanks to the appearance of dozens of iconic works of art in unexpected locations around the world, many of which have 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 floating around.

Public schoolboy Robin Gunningham was exposed as Banksy by the Mail On Sunday in 2008 following an investigation into his past.

Regardless of who he is, Banksy’s works are popular on the art market.

In 2021, his ‘Love is in the Bin’ work was purchased for more than £18 million (approximately $23,000), with its value increased after a chipper hidden in the frame cut it into pieces moments after it was first was sold in 2021. 2018.

Formerly known as ‘Girl with Balloon’, the work was just one of more than a dozen Banksy creations that have sold for more than £2 million ($2.5 million).