PARIS.- On February 14th at 7pm, Artcurial will gather street art collectors for its annual sale dedicated to Urban Art. Artcurial is a pioneer in this field and has been organising Street Art auctions since 2006. These successful events have become key meeting points for both French and International collectors. The last sale, The Beautiful Winners organised for the first time during the FIAC in October, went beyond its estimate and totalled 1 656 960 € / 1 822 656 $ with 81% of the lots sold.

Arnaud Oliveux, Director of the Urban Art department at Artcurial, explains: “Artcurial has been a leading figure in Street Art sales and for over 10 years, we have had the pleasure and honour of putting forward artists, who have become leading figures of the scene. This auction offers a global vision of these artists and includes works by JonOne, Evol, Swoon and Rero.

In 2015, Artcurial confirmed its place as the leader of the Street Art movement, in particular for historic graffiti art. The auction house set a new world record with the sale of a piece by Dondy White. This auction on February 14th will include key pieces by American artists from the beginning of this movement but also works by other contemporary urban artists who have gained a reputation on the market, such as JonOne with his work Pick & Mix from 2013 (estimate 13 000 – 18 000 € / 13 975 – 19 350 $) and Almighty One (estimate 25 000 – 35 000 / 27 080 – 37 910 $) from 1993. JonOne started out as a graffiti artist who tagged trains in New York and today he expresses himself with as much intensity and emotion on canvas. This self-taught man has become a leading figure of the Street Art movement.

Highlights amongst the other artists of the sale include EVOL, a young anonymous talent from the Berlin Street Art scene who is inspired by Soviet art. He reproduces social housing blocks using cardboard boxes and urban bits of furniture and objects such as electric meters. Several works will be on sale including this electric meter from Antwerp dating back to 2012, B2 (estimate: 15 000 – 20 000 € / 16 300 – 21 700 $) and Dieffenbachstrasse from 2008 painted on used cardboard (estimate: 15 000 – 20 000 € / 16 300 – 21 700 $).

BRINGING LUXURY AND STREET ART TOGETHER
With a similar style to Banksy, the British street artist, Nick Walker from Bristol, links luxury with Street Art and produces impressive works on canvas.

This dyptich, Vandal VS Louboutin (estimate: 8 000 – 12 000 € / 8 700 – 13 050 $) represents a cohabitation between his invented character, Vandal, who is half hooligan and half English gentleman, alongside with Louboutin, the luxury shoe brand famous for its red soles.

We have seen this trend over the past few years amongst some of the biggest luxury brands. Louis Vuitton produced a range of handbags with a grafitti style by Stephen Sprouse and today, it is time for Nick Walker to take lead and show how he does it.

Another piece of work by this artist dating back to 2000 will be on sale: Apish Angel - Angel And The Butterfly (estimate 9 000 – 12 000 € / 9 750 – 13 040 $).