Banksy's Monkey Detonator totals $213,000 at Bonhams

Bonhams' Urban Art auction saw several works by Banksy dominate the top lots, with his Monkey Detonator selling with an impressive 39.2% increase on estimate.

Banksy Monkey detonator
Banksy's work performs much better in the UK than other countries



The piece, an original stencil on canvas, sold for £139,250 (213,037), rising far above its £100,000 high estimate to become the most highly valued work in the sale.

Following was Kids on Guns, a limited edition stencil (numbered 4/25) that was created in 2003 and sold for £75,650 ($115,736) - an 8% increase on its high estimate of £70,000. Another instantly recognisable piece, Flower Chucker, sold for £44,450 ($68,000), despite comprising a hasty design on a piece of scrap cardboard.

However, the most intriguing Banksy lot of the sale was his portrayal of Kate Moss, executed in the style of Andy Warhol's legendary portraits of Marilyn Monroe. A screenprint on paper in purple and orange, numbered 14/20, it sold for £37,250 ($56,988)

The sale demonstrates the power of Banksy's work in the UK compared with overseas, after Bonhams' October 2012 Urban Art auction in Los Angeles saw the artist perform poorly when set against US stencil legend Shepard Fairey.

Taki 183 tag canvas
Taki 183's tag - a combination of his name, Demetaki, and his house number - was the first of its kind, appearing on the streets of New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s



This most recent sale also saw Bonhams exploring the origins of urban art and graffiti, featuring top names from 1980s New York, such as Taki 183, Futura 2000, Blade and Tkid. An untitled work by Taki 183 bearing his famous tag - which is considered the first of its kind - sold for £10,000 $15,249).

Early graffiti artists such as this inspired some of the leading fine artists on the scene today, namely Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose Dustheads looks to break the world record for his work at $35m in May. Sign up to our free weekly newsletter to keep up with the latest collecting trends.

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