Banksy imitation of Monet sells for nearly $ 10 million
A Banksy painting parodying a Claude Monet painting was sold in London on Wednesday for about $ 9.8 million, making it the second most expensive work by the mysterious British artist, Sotheby's auction house announced.
The canvas, made with oil paint, was titled "Show Me the Monet" and was a unique imitation of the "Pond of Nymphaeas", one of the most famous paintings of the French painter Claude Monet.
Sotheby's auction house sold Banksy's work for a total of 7,551,600 pounds sterling, or about $ 10 million.
The hammer came down after five collectors squabbled for almost nine minutes and this led to the estimated price, between 3,000,000 and 5,000,000 pounds, to rise to become the second highest of the auctioned artist, reported Sotheby's.
This sale comes a year after a Banksy painting depicting the British Parliament teeming with chimpanzees was auctioned for £ 9.9 million ($ 13.02 million), a record price for the mysterious artist.
The work auctioned on Wednesday represents a Japanese bridge over a flowered pond as in Monet's original painting, but in this version there are also traffic signs and a supermarket cart in the middle of the pond.
"Banksy highlights society's contempt for the environment in the face of wasteful excesses of consumerism," Alex Branczik, European head of contemporary art at Sotheby's, said in a statement, who considers the Bristol artist a "visionary.
"Show Me the Monet" was made in 2005 as part of the collection entitled "The Crude Oils" ("Vulgar oil paintings"), in which the British artist devoted himself to parody masterpieces of pictorial art such as "Sunflowers" Van Gogh or Andy Warhol's portraits of Marilyn Monroe.
Sotheby's auction house sold Banksy's work for a total of 7,551,600 pounds sterling, or about $ 10 million.
The hammer came down after five collectors squabbled for almost nine minutes and this led to the estimated price, between 3,000,000 and 5,000,000 pounds, to rise to become the second highest of the auctioned artist, reported Sotheby's.
This sale comes a year after a Banksy painting depicting the British Parliament teeming with chimpanzees was auctioned for £ 9.9 million ($ 13.02 million), a record price for the mysterious artist.
The work auctioned on Wednesday represents a Japanese bridge over a flowered pond as in Monet's original painting, but in this version there are also traffic signs and a supermarket cart in the middle of the pond.
"Banksy highlights society's contempt for the environment in the face of wasteful excesses of consumerism," Alex Branczik, European head of contemporary art at Sotheby's, said in a statement, who considers the Bristol artist a "visionary.
"Show Me the Monet" was made in 2005 as part of the collection entitled "The Crude Oils" ("Vulgar oil paintings"), in which the British artist devoted himself to parody masterpieces of pictorial art such as "Sunflowers" Van Gogh or Andy Warhol's portraits of Marilyn Monroe.