Banksy thwarts art opportunists

Graffiti artist Banksy (pictured here placing one of his own works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) is no fool. For some years now, people have been removing his spray-canned efforts from walls, hoardings, bus shelters, etc, in the hope that one day they’d be able to sell them on at astronomical prices (a Banksy recently fetched over £1m at auction). However, it now looks as if they’ve wasted their time - because unless they’re authenticated by Pest Control, the recently formed committee that decrees what work of his work is bona fide, they’re worthless.

Says The First Post’s art world source: “The works are made for specific sites, and taking them is tantamount to theft. That is why Banksy has approved this authentication system. He certainly doesn’t want the people who’ve removed them making money out of it.”

The Telegraph reports that three such examples (sans Pest Control’s stamp of approval) were offered for sale at Bloomsbury Auctions in London last week. One work, which appears on a piece of plywood, was expected to fetch £40,000 - £60,000. Despite having a certificate of authenticity from Banksy’s dealer, Steve Lazarides, it went unsold. Another, a work on ceramic tiles, estimated at £15,000 - £20,000, suffered the same fate. And a work that was used in a newspaper feature for the band Blur was withdrawn before the auction.