Rare Banksy painting, owned by blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, up for auction for US$6.35 million
Crude Oil (Vettriano) is Banksy’s reimagining of 1992 painting The Singing Butler by Scottish artist Jack Vettriano, who died on Monday
A rare Banksy artwork, hand-painted by the elusive street artist and owned by American musician Mark Hoppus, heads to auction on Tuesday with a price estimate of up to US$6.35 million.
Crude Oil (Vettriano) is Banksy’s reimagining of the 1992 painting The Singing Butler by Scottish artist Jack Vettriano, whose death was announced on Monday.
It depicts Vettriano’s butler serenading a dancing couple on a beach, with Banksy’s addition of a sinking oil liner and two figures in hazmat suits moving a barrel of toxic waste in the background.
The painting, bought by the co-founder of pop-punk band blink-182 Hoppus and his wife Skye in 2011, is being offered at Sotheby’s London “Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction”, with an estimate of £3 million to £5 million (US$3.81 million to US$6.35 million).
“It was first exhibited in [Banksy’s] landmark exhibition in Notting Hill in 2005, which really propelled him into the public sphere,” Mackie Hayden-Cook, contemporary art specialist at Sotheby’s, said.
“It’s rare for a work of this quality to come to market, and this one really has all the best ingredients. A fabulous owner, it’s hand-painted, impeccable exhibition history, and its subject is more urgent now than ever before.”