In an auction held at Sotheby’s Thursday, British artist Banksy’s painting, “Devolved Parliament,” sold for $12.2 million after a 13-minute bidding battle, which shattered previous records. The final sale of the painting exceeded Sotheby’s estimate of $1.9 to $2.5 million.
The satirical oil painting shows the House of Commons filled with chimpanzees, and was created in 2009 for the Banksy vs. Bristol Museum exhibition — it was originally titled “Question Time.” The exhibit attracted more than 300,000 visitors, making it one of the most visited art exhibits in the world that year.
According to CNN, the anonymous artist renamed the painting and reworked a couple details — such as extinguishing the lamps in the House of Commons — before its reappearance at the Bristol Museum March 28, the day before the original “Brexit Day.”
“I made this 10 years ago. Bristol Museum have just put it back on display to mark Brexit day,” Banksy posted on Instagram in March. “Laugh now, but one day no one will be in charge.”
The auction house told BBC News there’s no doubt that the painting is more pertinent now than it has ever been. It doesn’t matter which side people take on the Brexit debate
Meanwhile, the high price seemed to be questioned by the artist who posted a quote from Robert Hughes via Instagram, stating, “Instead of being the common property of humankind the way a book is, art becomes the particular property of someone who can afford it.”