Bonhams Auction House Enjoys Huge Success with Its First Ever Auction of "Urban Art"

February, 6th, 2008.  Driven by interest in and sales of the work of artists such as Banksy, Damien Hirst, and Andy Warhol, urban art, or graffiti art continues to grow in popularity and it seems that the traditional auction houses have taken note. This week, Bonhams Auction House held its first auction of "Urban Art."
 
Yet perhaps the most impressive aspect of urban artists' accomplishments have been their success in pursuing their art outside of the confines of the traditional gallery and museum environments.
The work of Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, among others, were featured.

The auction signalled another step towards the mainstream for the genre, with 75 pieces of "urban art" in the catalogue.

"Kate Moss", a portrait by Banksy of the British supermodel in the style of Andy Warhol's famous Marilyn Monroe paintings, sold on Tuesday for $191,000 (96,000 pounds), more than three times expectations.

The Bristol-based London artist Banksy's "Laugh Now," which was originally commissioned for the Ocean Rooms Night Club, a stencil image of a monkey wearing a sandwich board that stretches about six metres (19.7 feet) in length, which was expected to sell for £150,000-£200,000, went under the hammer at £228,000 (280,000 euros, 410,000 dollars).

Nick Walker's Moona Lisa, which had an estimated price of £3,000 to £5,000, fetched £54,000.
 


While another work by Banksy, "Di-Faced Tenners," fetched £21,000, double its estimated price.

Bonhams said that a crowd of more than 500 people crammed into its Bond Street saleroom to see the 74-lot auction raise about a million pounds with fees, compared with a lower estimate of around 550,000 pounds. Only one lot failed to sell.