Banksy Piece Depicting UK Parliament as Chimps Sells For $12.2 Million

(TMU) – The infamous and anonymous street artist known as “Banksy” doesn’t seem very happy that one of his paintings was recently re-sold at auction for £9.9 million, or about $12.2 million, which is a record-setting sale for a Banksy piece.

The painting shows members of the British Parliament as chimpanzees, and is titled “Devolved Parliament.” The massive oil painting is on a canvas that is 13 feet wide, making it the largest known Banksy piece. The painting was originally made in 2009, but the theme is timeless.

The item was up for auction at Sotheby’s in London, where a 13-minute bidding war resulted in a price that was many times higher than the originally estimated value. At one point in the auction, the price became too high for everyone in the room, but bids still continued to come in through telephone once the price rose over £5 million. The final $12.2 million offer came from an anonymous bidder who called in through the telephone.

Many sources have reported that this painting was inspired by the Brexit controversy. However, Banksy has previously said that he created this painting ten years ago, well before the first Brexit vote hit the news, but noted that it was associated with Brexit when it was put on display at the Bristol museum earlier this year.

“I made this ten years ago. Bristol museum have just put it back on display to mark Brexit day. Laugh now, but one day no-one will be in charge,” Banksy said in an Instagram post earlier this year.

The piece was expected to earn at least a million dollars, as Banky’s previous auctions have ranged between $1 million and $2 million. Before this most recent sale, Banky’s highest-priced piece was a painting called “Keep it Spotless,” which sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2008, for $1.87 million.

However, shortly after this most recent sale, Banksy made a post to Instagram saying that it was a shame he still didn’t own the piece, and shared a quote condemning overpriced art. Still, Banksy has made millions off his art, and likely made a decent commission on the “Devolved Parliament” piece, but it ended up being an anonymous art collector who collected the $12.2 million jackpot.

Or who knows, maybe it is all just a complicated ploy and Banksy is bluffing, no one ever knows with this guy.

View this post on Instagram

. Record price for a Banksy painting set at auction tonight. Shame I didn’t still own it.

A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Oct 3, 2019 at 12:28pm PDT

By John Vibes / Themindunleashed.com / Creative Commons