Banksy on demand

picture by Banksy

I try to keep up on the news within the art world and there seems to have been some really interesting things happening this week but one specifically captured my attention earlier today. Strangely enough it came to my attention when glancing through Yahoo News on my phone. When I saw an article with the title of British neighborhood wants its Banksy back, I had to take a look then had to find out for sure what I was reading was correct (finding out that several other sites was using the same title). It came to a shock to me while reading the article, originally thinking that the piece that was done during the celebration of the Queen's Jubilee was painted over only to discover that someone actually took the image and the plaster it was painted on straight off of the building it was on. That wasn't enough. The person who snatched the piece then places it up for auction. Looking through some other sites, it would seem that several British and international websites have been reporting this news and all trying to find out why the stolen piece had found its way into a Florida auction.

Fine Art Auctions Miami said it had acquired the work legally, but gave few other details. It said in a statement that it had "done all the necessary due diligence about the ownership of the work."

"Unfortunately we are not able to provide you with any information by law and contract about any details of this consignment," it said. "We are more than happy to do so if you can prove that the works were acquired and removed illegally."    ~ Townhall.com 

picture by Banksy 

Banksy, a relatively known English-based graffiti stencil artist who's work has drawn admirers for his unique tongue-in-cheek pieces that usually has a sense of whimsy and normally some political message in it. Particularly known in the Bristol underground scene and has done collaborations between artists and musicians, his work has inspired other artists along the way. 

I have to say that I'm not too sure how to take the news of this happening but the fact that Banksy's work is so desirable perhaps hasn't helped with this whole situation. It's the fact that someone was greedy enough to remove something from the side of a privately owned building that had given an entire town joy then sell it. I certainly don't fault the auction house in this matter.  I'm sure that there is going to be a lot of interest in this within the art world for a while.