Rare Banksy, owned by blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, heads to auction

nypost.com:

A rare Banksy artwork, hand-painted by the elusive street artist and owned by musician Mark Hoppus, heads to auction on Tuesday with a price estimate of up to $6.35 million.“Crude Oil (Vettriano)” is Banksy’s re-imagining of the 1992 painting “The Singing Butler” by Scottish artist Jack Vettriano, whose death was announced on Monday.It depicts Vettriano’s butler serenading a dancing couple on a beach, with Banksy’s addition of a sinking oil liner and two figures in hazmat suits moving a barrel of toxic waste in the background.The painting, bought by the co-founder of pop-punk band blink-182 Hoppus and his wife Skye in 2011, is being offered at Sotheby’s London “Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction”, with an estimate of $3.81 million – $6.35 million.“It was first exhibited in (Banksy’s) landmark exhibition in Notting Hill in 2005, which really propelled him into the public sphere,” Mackie Hayden-Cook, specialist, contemporary art at Sotheby’s, told Reuters.“It’s rare for a work of this quality to come to market, and this one really has all the best ingredients.

A fabulous owner, it’s hand-painted, impeccable exhibition history, and its subject is more urgent now than ever before.”Speaking before news of Vettriano’s death, she linked Banksy’s decision to re-imagine his work to the parallels between the two artists at the time.“Like Banksy, you have a really, really popular artist that is loved by the masses and appreciated by many.

But for whatever reason, he was snubbed by the art world,” Hayden-Cook said.Hoppus said part of the sale proceeds would go to medical charities and the California Fire Foundation, following the Los Angeles wildfires.