Banksy – Kissing Coppers.
One of Banksy’s most famous murals, Kissing Coppers, has been sold for $575,000 at a street art auction held by Fine Art Auctions Miami. The life size stencilled graffiti, originally spray painted on the wall of the Prince Albert pub in Brighton in 2004, was removed in 2011. It was put on canvas and sold to the art dealer Stephan Keszler, who owns the Keszler Gallery in Manhattan and Southhampton, New York and has a history of trasding Bansky’s works. The depiction of two policemen kissing has since been replaced by an imitation covered in perspex.
Two other Banksy pieces created during a 30 day residency in New York remained unsold at the auction. Bandaged Heart, a spray-painted image of a heart-shaped balloon covered in plasters, had an estimate of $400,000-$600,000. Crazy Horse Car Door, with an estimate of $200,000-$300,000, depicted a Herculean figure amidst running horses on the rear door of a car.