Banksy's Gay Bobbies Heading to Auction
By: Joe Thompson
4.26.2011
One of street artist Banksy's best known works, showing two British police officers kissing in a passionate embrace, will head to the U.S. to be auctioned.
According to the Daily Mail (via The Advocate) the "Gay Bobbies" image was painted on the side of the Prince Albert pub in Brighton in 2004 and became a major tourist attraction. Unfortunately, repeated attacks on the artwork have damaged it, so the pub owner decided to sell the original through a New York gallery. The image was preserved by a company that used chemicals to transfer the image onto a canvas.
While the elusive Banksy's work has grown in popularity over the years, he's become well known in the States recently, thanks in part to his Oscar nomination for Exit Through the Gift Shop. As such, it's estimated that the piece could be bought for £1 million, or $1.6 million U.S. dollars.
One of street artist Banksy's best known works, showing two British police officers kissing in a passionate embrace, will head to the U.S. to be auctioned.
According to the Daily Mail (via The Advocate) the "Gay Bobbies" image was painted on the side of the Prince Albert pub in Brighton in 2004 and became a major tourist attraction. Unfortunately, repeated attacks on the artwork have damaged it, so the pub owner decided to sell the original through a New York gallery. The image was preserved by a company that used chemicals to transfer the image onto a canvas.
While the elusive Banksy's work has grown in popularity over the years, he's become well known in the States recently, thanks in part to his Oscar nomination for Exit Through the Gift Shop. As such, it's estimated that the piece could be bought for £1 million, or $1.6 million U.S. dollars.
