Banksy’s chimp painting, ‘Devolved Parliament,’ sells for record $12M
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It looks like a scene from a “Planet of the Apes” movie, but instead it’s a 2009 painting from the anonymous renegade artist Banksy – and on Thursday it sold at auction for $12 million, according to reports.
Titled “Devolved Parliament,” the painting depicts a group of chimpanzees deliberating in Britain’s House of Commons – a thinly veiled commentary from the artist, about whom little is known for sure beyond his British citizenship.
POSSIBLE BANKSY PAINTING APPEARS NEAR LONDON CLIMATE CHANGE PROTEST
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The sale price for the painting was nearly five times the estimate posted by the Sotheby’s auction house in London, the BBC reported.
In response, Banksy posted on Instagram that the amount was a “record price for a Banksy painting,” adding that it was a “shame I didn’t still own it.”
The previous record price for a Banksy work was the $1.87 million paid in 2008 for “Keep It Spotless,” which shows a made working in front of a curtain covered with multi-colored spots, the New York Daily News reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this image made from video, British lawmakers stage a protest in the House of Commons, in London, Sept. 10, 2019. (Parliament TV via PA via AP)
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In early September, the Pompidou Center in Paris tweeted that another Banksy artwork, showing a rat holding a box cutter, had been stolen from outside the center.
Also last month, a Volvo delivery van covered in graffiti by the artist was expected to sell for unspecified millions.