Banksy works to fetch up to $200k in Beverly Hills auction

A selection of works by elusive British graffiti artist Banksy, including the Mariachi Player and his Rat stencils, are going on sale in June, a Beverly Hills auction house said yesterday.

The Mariachi Player — a mural of a musician playing a guitar and bearing the artist’s signature — was stencilled with black aerosol paint on a wall in Mexico by the artist in 2001, Julien’s Auctions said.

It said it expects the piece to fetch between $150,000 and $200,000, (€108,400 to €144,540) the highest valuation of the five works up for auction.

Banksy is the pseudonym of a graffiti artist who first emerged in Bristol as part of an underground group of street artists. He hides his identity and real name, and his works are highly sought after by art collectors.

The news of the auction comes a day after Banksy put a statement on his official website slamming a London sale of his works. The statement said Banksy has not given consent and has no involvement in the sale of seven of his pieces.

A spokeswoman for Julien’s Auctions said all the five Banksy pieces were put up for sale by international collectors. Their identities are being kept private, and the spokeswoman said she was not sure if Banksy is aware of the sale.

Banksy’s Rat stencils will also hit the auction block in June, including the Anarchy Rat mural that was spray- painted onto the walls of a military graveyard in Berlin around 2003 and 2004. The auction house estimates it would sell for between $50,000 and $70,000.

Rapper Rat, stencilled on a piece of plywood that boarded a wall in Bristol, is expected to sell for between $30,000 and $50,000, and Gangsta Rat, spray-painted onto a triangular yellow car wheel clamp, between $20,000 and $40,000.

The final Banksy piece up for auction is the Bomb-Hugger, a stencil of a little girl hugging a missile with the word “NO” painted on a piece of cardboard, valued between $3,000 and $5,000.

Besides the Banksy works, more than 40 pieces are expected to go on sale in Julien’s summer street art auction on June 26.