Fashion designer Paul Smith is selling his Banksy artwork at Bonham’s
A 2004 artwork by street artist Banksy, Congestion Charge, part of the Vandalised Oils series, will be included in Bonham’s post-war and contemporary art sale in London on June 29th. The work has an estimated value in the range of £1.2 and £1.8million.
The oil painting satirises in Turner-style the congestion charge introduced in London in 2004 as part of an eco-friendly drive to prevent vehicles from entering the city’s centre. It is being sold by UK fashion designer Paul Smith. The 76-year-old purchased the painting at Banksy’s Santa’s Ghetto exhibition.
“Banksy’s Vandalised Oils have consistently proven to be amongst the most valuable and highly coveted works in his oeuvre, and Congestion Charge is no exception,” Ralph Taylor, Bonhams global head of post-war and contemporary art, explained in a statement.
Banksy’s series of Vandalised Oils paintings – also known as Crude Oils – were displayed in a famous exhibition in 2005. Those willing to host the exhibition were scarce at the time, as the artist wanted 200 live rats on the show floor. It ultimately landed with London-based collectors Roland and Jane Cowan, who offered Banksy their basement in west London.
The couple purchased the crowning piece of the exhibition, 2005’s Show Me the Monet, Banksy’s parody of Claude Monet’s famous water lilies, which later earned £7.6m at Sotheby’s in 2020. Meanwhile, Congestion Charge will not be the first Banksy artwork that Paul Smith has sold. In 2021, he marketed Sunflowers from Petrol Station via Christie’s New York. Another part of the Vandalised Oils series, it collected $14.5m at the auction, a sum including fees.
Elsewhere, it was announced last week that a new officially authorised Banksy show, ‘CUT and Run’ is being held at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA); it opened on Sunday. For the first time, it is exhibiting stencils the artist used to create some of his most iconic works, spanning from 1988 to now.
“I’ve kept these stencils hidden away for years, mindful they could be used as evidence in a charge of criminal damage,” Banksy told The Herald. “But that moment seems to have passed, so now I’m exhibiting them in a gallery as works of art. I’m not sure which is the greater crime”.
Watch a documentary on Banksy’s identity below.
