Monkey business. Primate in Banksy Parliament auctioned off Automatic translate

LONDON (Reuters). Banksy’s painting of primates sitting in the British Parliament next week will be sold under the hammer and is expected to bring up to $ 2.5 million.

The parliament, in which chimpanzees are replaced by politicians, is about 4 meters long, making it, according to Sotheby’s, the largest known painting by a secretive British street artist.

Given the particular relevance of this picture of 2009 (the House of Commons is witnessing an increasingly fierce debate about Britain leaving the EU), the auction house set a preliminary estimate of 1.5 million - 2 million pounds (1.84 million dollars - 2, 46 million dollars).

“There is no doubt that this image today has incredible value not only here in the UK, but throughout Europe and beyond,” said Alex Branchik, head of Sotheby’s contemporary art office in Europe.

“Here we see one of our oldest democracies, and within it is a regression to the behavior of breeding animals.”

Now the British Parliament is at the peak of passion, as on Wednesday it resumed meetings with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his opponents, clashing in fierce disputes over Brexit.

A work of art will be on display at Sotheby’s in London until October 3, when the most lucrative bidder takes it with him, a year after Banksy’s other painting, A Girl with a Balloon, is Half shredded herself in front of shocked viewers as soon as it was sold.

“There have already been many comments on this,” Branchik said. “… I can categorically say that there is no shredder in this frame. It would have to be incredibly large and I can confidently say that it is not there. ”