Street Art Sinks at London AuctionBy ARTINFO
Published: September 29, 2008
Dealers said that the reduced demand for street art was a result of worries about the economy and confusion about the authenticity of Banksy works. "Things are difficult at the moment," said Annabel Thomas, an executive director of the London-based dealers the Fine Art Society. "There's a definite retreat to the blue-chip material." The auction included many works priced between £1,000 and £5,000. The 74 lots that sold brought in £300,000 ($553,400), far below the pre-sale estimate of £1 million. Only five of 20 Banksy prints sold. The artist's authentication agency, Pest Control, had refused to endorse five of those, which were instead declared authentic by a rival service, Vermin. Another high-profile work that failed to sell was a self-portrait done in lipstick and blood by supermodel Kate Moss, with a low estimate of £30,000. A highlight that did sell was an ink-and-chalk sketch that Lucian Freud created at age 19, which went for £22,800, beating its estimates. |
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