Banksy is having (another) moment. Following the launch of its first official exhibition in 14 years at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow (Goma), the Bonhams Post-War and Contemporary Art sale in London (June 29) will include the flagship piece Congestion charge (2004), part of the vandalized oils series. The work is estimated at between £1.2 and £1.8 million.
The oil, which ridicules the green congestion charge introduced in 2004 to stop vehicles entering central London, was consigned by British fashion designer Paul Smith. The Turner-style painting was purchased by Smith in 2004 from Banksy Santa’s Ghetto exposure.
“From Banksy vandalized oils have always proved to be among the most valuable and coveted works of his oeuvre, and Congestion charge is no exception,” said Ralph Taylor, global head of post-war and contemporary art at Bonhams, in a statement.
THE vandalized oils paintings or Crude oils works as they were otherwise called, were shown in an infamous exhibition held in 2005. Few people were ready to welcome the Crude oils show – mainly because the guerrilla street performer wanted 200 live rats scurrying around the show. But London collectors Roland and Jane Cowan were unfazed and offered Banksy the basement at 100 Westbourne Grove in west London.
The couple bought Show me the Monet (2005)—Banksy’s parody of Claude Monet’s impressionist water lilies and crowning exhibition—which sold for £7.6 million (with fees) at Sotheby’s in 2020.
Smith, meanwhile, is in shape to sell Banksy pieces. In 2021, he entrusts the work Gas Station Sunflowers at Christie’s New York. THE vandalized oils work, estimated between $12 and $18 million, sold for $14.5 million (with fees).
Smith told Christie’s at the time: “What first attracted me to Banksy was his confidence and clarity in communicating something exactly as it is. I was so impressed with his observations of what was happening in the world and that remains true of the work he does today. His political statements are utterly to the point, really profound, really courageous and always delivered in a modern way.
