LONDON.- Works by Banksy ignited a bidding frenzy at Bonhams' inaugural Pop x Culture sale on Thursday 8 October in London with the top lot, Heavy Weaponry, 2000, achieving an impressive £471,062. Another work by Banksy, a screenprint of Girl with Balloon, 2004 (signed), sold for £350,062, almost double the pre-sale estimate.

Three Banksy prints achieved world auction records in the sale:

• Girl with Balloon, 2004 (unsigned), sold for £212,562 (estimate: £60,000-80,000).
• Laugh Now, 2003 (unsigned), sold for £68,812 (estimate: £15,000-20,000).
• Banksy, Gold Flag, 2007 (signed). sold for £72,562 (estimate: £18,000-22,000).

The thematic, cross-departmental auction featured Modern & Contemporary art, prints, entertainment memorabilia and fashion pieces, exploring Street Art, youth culture and all things ‘Pop’. The sale made £2,004,935 with 63% sold by lot and 84% sold by value.

Head of Sale, Cassi Young, said: “We’re delighted with the results of the sale. Pop x Culture was such a fun concept exploring the artists, cultural figures and genres that defined a ‘post-pop’ world. It is great to see that ‘Pop’ still has the power to make an impact, and to see works by Banksy, one of the definitive street artists, go with a bang not a pop.”

There was further Banksy-mania at Bonhams Prints and Multiples on Wednesday 7 October in Knightsbridge with two works by the artist achieving new world auction records – Soup Can (unsigned), which sold for £40,062 (estimate: £7,000-10,000), and Monkey Queen (unsigned), which sold for £35,062 (estimate: £4,000-6,000. Another work by Banksy, Flag (Silver) (unsigned) sold for £31,312, against an estimate of £4,000-6,000.

Carolin von Massenbach, Bonhams Director of Prints in Knightsbridge commented: “We’re very pleased with the phenomenal success of the prints featured in the Pop x Culture sale, and of the great figures achieved in the Prints and Multiples sale the day before. The record-breaking results for Banksy prove that he remains the most iconic street artist living and working today.”




Other highlights of the Pop x Culture sale included:

• KAWS (born 1974), Untitled (Calvin Klein), 1999. Sold for £122,562.

• Keith Haring (1958-1990), Untitled 2, from Free South Africa, 1985. Sold for £22,562 – a world record for the print

• BLADE (Steven Ogborn) (born 1957), Illegal Entry, 1984. Sold for £25,062 – a new world record.

• Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Mao, 1972. Sold for £43,812.

• Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Vegetable Soup, from Campbell's Soup I, 1968. Sold for £35,062.

• Invader (born 1969), Invasion Kit IK.7: Union Space, 2007. Sold for £13,812.

Banksy’s Oh My God, 2006, a unique work which featured in his landmark Barely Legal Exhibition in Los Angeles in 2006, will lead Bonhams Post-War & Contemporary Art Sale on 22 October in London. It has an estimate of £700,000-1,000,000.