BANKSY IMAGE CREATED ON THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF HURRICANE KATRINA TO SELL AT BONHAMS
“THREE YEARS AFTER KATRINA I WANTED TO MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT THE STATE OF THE CLEAN-UP OPERATION,” SAID BANKSY
A painting, which features one of the images created by the enigmatic Oscar-nominated graffiti artist, Banksy, to commemorate the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, is to be sold at Bonhams, New Bond Street, as part of its sale of Post War and Contemporary Art and Design on 13 April. It has attracted a pre-sale estimate of £50,000 – 80,000.
The image was one of more than a dozen murals that Banksy grafittied onto buildings around the city of New Orleans in September 2008. While this image, entitled NOLA, depicts a young girl sheltering from red rain under an umbrella, other pictures included a young boy flying a fridge like a kite and Abraham Lincoln as a homeless man.
Banksy, who, earlier this year, was nominated for an Oscar for his first feature documentary film Exit Through The Gift Shop, said at the time: “Three years after Katrina I wanted to make a statement about the state of the clean-up operation.”
Bonhams’ Post War and Contemporary Art and Design sale is also offering another famous Banksy image, Balloon Girl, 2003, (estimate £30,000 – 50,000), which formed part of his temporary Christmas gallery, Santa’s Ghetto, in 2003.
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further five throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Boston in the USA; Toronto, Canada; and France, Monaco, Hong Kong, Australia and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas.For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com
