Works By Famed British Street Artist Banksy Could Bring $325,000

Three prints of art works by renowned but publicly unidentified British graffiti artist known only as Banksy, have been included in a sale catalogue of important and rare art and collectively could bring about $325,000 next week.

They will be offered at an auction of Important and Rare Art at the International Art Centre in Parnell, Auckland, next week (Nov 29) which also features three art works by renowned New Zealand artist Charles Frederick Goldie.

One of the Banksy prints, Have a Nice Day is believed to be one of the first screen prints publicly released by Banksy more than 20 years ago and is predicted to bring up to $95,000.

The bold and striking art work features 27 military or riot police in a single or intimidating line with each one wearing a mask with a smile printed on it.

In the centre of the group is a black and grey tank, with the words Have A Nice Day underneath. When Banksy completed the work critics were unsure if he intended to intimidate or amuse, but say it speaks to the idea that police are often not all they seem, perhaps even hiding behind their smiles.

Another Banksy work No Ball Games is predicted to bring up to $165,000 and features two children playing with a sign that says No Ball Games, as if it was a ball.

Critics believe Banksy may have been making a social commentary on the “nanny state”, and how even fundamental children's activities, such as play, are controlled and regulated and with the children interpreted as symbols for people in general, constantly under surveillance and regulation by a higher bureaucratic state power.

Banksy, a famous rule breaker himself, has a world-wide following and frequently uses children as symbols of innocence and a sense of freedom.

The third Banksy print in the auction is Golf sale, depicts a man defiantly confronting tanks in China’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. The tanks were on their way to Beijing as the Chinese military suppressed the country’s democracy movement.

The Banksy work is based on a photograph and is expected to bring up to $65,000. The photograph is of an act considered one of the most notable acts of non-violent intervention and is considered an iconic image of the 20th century.

International Art Centre director Richard Thomson, said Banksy works always attracted a lot of interest, often from overseas.

Three works of art by revered New Zealand artist Charles Frederick Goldie, also in the catalogue, could bring up to $2.2 million at the auction. The three works are two oil paintings of Maori elders and a 1931 drawing of Sophia, the famed guide of the Pink and White Terraces on which Goldie wrote a message to his mother ‘To Mater from Charlie’.

One of the paintings, Maori Chief with Hei-Tiki, signed and completed in 1939, is expected to bring up to $1.2 million.

Other artists in the sale include Ralph Hotere, Karl Maughan, Peter Siddell, Colin McCahon, Michael Smither, Peter McIntyre, Rita Angus and numerous others who have made a significant contribution to New Zealand art history and culture.

View images of the work from www.internationalartcentre.co.nz

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