Friday
Banksy Art Sets Record
A work by controversial artist Banksy has been sold in London for £62,400, setting a new art auction record. A spray painting of a couple embracing clad in deep sea diving gear - which was used for the cover of Blur's Think Tank album - went for 10 times its estimated value at Bonhams. The sale comes less than a week after Banksy's stencil of the Mona Lisa went under the hammer for a record £57,600. The anonymous buyer said it would remain in a UK collection of Pop Art. At a Sotheby's art sale last week, Banksy's six silk-screen prints of model Kate Moss in the style of Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe pictures were auctioned for more than £50,000. The artist has become notorious for his public stunts, including tampering with copies of Paris Hilton's album, showing the singer topless and with a dog's head. Last month the artist placed a life-sized replica of a Guantanamo Bay detainee inside the Disneyland theme park in California. Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie reportedly spent more than £200,000 on art work by Banksy at a recent Los Angeles sale.
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Irish Art