Banksy’s latest artwork of the House of Commons overtaken by chimpanzees has fetched a record sum this week after being sold at an auction on Thursday.
The anonymous artist, originally from Brighton, put the painting up for auction at Sotheby’s in London. It was estimated the painting would be valued at up to £2 million pounds. However, high demand for the unique painting of a devolved House of Commons meant it was highly contested in a bidding battle that took the final total to £9.87 million, a new record. The painting’s depiction of Parliament with chimpanzees is no less than 4 metres wide, and it was originally unveiled 10 years ago at the Bristol Museum.
Banksy's "Devolved Parliament" set a new record for the street artist, selling for £9,879,500 ($12,203,602) at a @Sothebys auction pic.twitter.com/yVADYmUUJW
— Bloomberg Originals (@bbgoriginals) October 4, 2019
Devolved Parliament is Banksy’s most successful painting to-date and was previously on display at the Bristol Museum marking its 10th anniversary. It was originally intended to be shown on display on the 29th March, the previous Brexit day. However, with Brexit still far from certain, the painting’s cultural significance has grown, and become a classic as people weigh the ‘intelligence’ of Britain’s Parliament that has so far been in deadlock regarding the UK’s planned departure from the EU for the last 3 years.
Banksy’s previous auction record was £1.4 million according to the Independent, for “Keep it Spotless” which was sold in New York back in 2008.
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