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A version of the »Girl with a Balloon« motif sprayed on metal achieved the equivalent of 3.3 million euros
PHOTO: TOM NICHOLSON / REUTERS
Banksy's »Kissing Coppers« first appeared as a mural in the seaside town of Brighton in 2004.
Pop star Robbie Williams actually wanted to auction a copy of the picture produced on canvas, which shows two British bobbys kissing, but the auction house Sotheby's announced that the work had been withdrawn.
Why Williams apparently decided not to sell the picture at the last minute is unclear.
Maybe it's because the 48-year-old has already made a lot of money with the other works of art he put up for auction.
Specifically, it is about two Banksy works owned by the musician, which Sotheby's has now sold for him for the equivalent of several million euros.
According to Sotheby's, a version of the "Girl with a Balloon" motif sprayed on metal achieved the equivalent of around 3.3 million euros.
Tens of millions for Magritte paintings
This time the work also remained whole: Another version was shredded at an auction in 2018 shortly after the sale by a hidden device in the frame.
It was an action by the artist that significantly increased the value of the work.
The oil painting "Vandalised Oil (Choppers)", on the other hand, a recreation of a landscape painting from the 18th or 19th century with two combat helicopters sprayed over it, changed hands on Wednesday for the equivalent of around 5.3 million euros.
However, another work achieved the highest price of the evening.
In an auction that also took place at Sotheby's on Wednesday, the painting "L'empire des lumières" by René Magritte (1898-1967) sold for the equivalent of around 71.4 million euros.
The value was estimated at more than 54 million euros.
The image was reportedly created in 1961 for Magritte's close friend, Baroness Anne-Marie Gillion Crowet.
She was the daughter of Magritte's patron, the Belgian surrealism collector Pierre Crowet.
According to the auction house, it has been in the family since then.
apr/dpa