Banksy’s Monet Tribute Is Going Under The Hammer For Up To US$6.4 Million
Images via Cheyenne One / Shutterstock.com and Shutterstock
Banksy, reputed for his mysterious street art that seems to fade in when no one is looking, has at least let in on one compelling detail about himself: his multifaceted prowess for art. In 2005, the elusive graffitist embarked on a project called Crude Oils, where he masterfully “remixed” famous artworks a world apart from his style.
One of the paintings, Show Me The Monet, will be displayed for two days at Sotheby’s in London on Friday, 25 September, as well as later this month in New York and Hong Kong, before going on sale for an anticipated price of between £3 to £5 million (US$3.86 to US$6.45 million) in a live-streamed auction on 21 October.
As the artwork’s name indicates, Show Me The Monet is a cheeky homage to impressionist painter Claude Monet. Banksy reworked Monet’s quintessential water lilies and bridge with the addition of shopping carts and a traffic cone tossed into the pond. The tribute frowns upon consumerism’s disrespect for the environment.
“In one of his most important paintings, Banksy has taken Monet’s iconic depiction of the Japanese bridge in the impressionist master’s famous garden at Giverny and transformed it into a modern-day fly-tipping spot,” said Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s European head of contemporary art, in a statement via NME. He also described the water body as “more canal than an idyllic lily pond.”
“Ever prescient as a voice of protest and social dissent, here Banksy shines a light on society’s disregard for the environment in favor of the wasteful excesses of consumerism,” Branczik elaborated.
Besides the Monet spoof, Banksy’s Crude Oils series features parodies of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe, and Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks.
Show Me The Monet will be auctioned off alongside a selection of contemporary art pieces, including Bridget Riley’s 1966 Untitled (Diagonal Curve).
Image via Sotheby’s
[via NME, images via various sources]
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