Chapter 1063 The Godfather of the Stree (2/2)

Later, he had a painting called Avon and Somerset Constabulary that went up for

auction and was sold at £196,000. It was the highest price street graffiti ever earned.

Subsequently, he had sold other artworks. Attacking Graffiti Boy went at £178,000 and

Unnamed Work of Rat and Sword at £264,800.

His most expensive artwork, Mobile Lovers, was sold last year. This piece of art

appeared on the wall of a youth club in Bristol, portraying a couple hugging while

checking out their phones.

This painting attracted many street art lovers. The club owner David Stinchcombe

realized that it was profitable, following which he moved the painting inside and asked

people to make a donation before entering the club to appreciate it. As a consequence,

he received a death threat.

Finally, the boss auctioned it and sold it for £420,000!

After Li Du's explanation, alongside with the information Hans found online, the group of

people managed to gain a fundamental understanding of Banksy.

Hans and Potter both released a gasp of surprise. Potter was amazed. ”Li, you know so

much, it's really impressive.”

Hans, on the other hand, said, ”Shit, street graffiti has become surprisingly valuable. I

should have made a career in it. Do you guys know I was once a street graffiti expert?”

Li Du smiled scornfully. ”You? If you were to continue your career of choice, you would

now be brushing toilets in jail!”

Whether in the United Kingdom or in America, graffiti activities were illegal, and the

artists would usually either be fined or made to do community work.

This was also the reason for Banksy's difficult life. In his early career, he was called an

”ideological terrorist” by the British press. He was often attacked and tracked by police.

His life was full of uncertainty, which led him to be very poor.

Only recently, after gaining a good reputation in ”Graffiti World” and becoming known as

a Great Master of Art, Banksy started to get profits from some of his work publications

and gradually improved his situation.

In these art collections, he would share his personal life from time to time. One of them

introduced his previous experience in America and his life while he studied street art in

Wynwood.

Needless to say, this Great Master of Art was also down and out at that time. He had no

choice but to live in a windowless warehouse that had no running water or electricity.

Hans said confidently, ”I have no problem with that. I can run very fast and the police

wouldn't be able to catch me.”

Godzilla interrupted, ”The question now is, how are we going to take this painting? It's

painted on the wall, right?”

Graffiti was usually painted directly on the wall. Fortunately, this time Banksy painted it

on the inner wall of the warehouse. And Mr. Bicycle Warehouse happened to have

wallpaper.

This wasn't because the warehouse company was particular, but because the boss

realized that his warehouses could be leased to poor people to reside in. He tried to find

inexpensive ways to create better living standards to attract people, and putting up

wallpaper was one of them.

Putting up wallpaper in a warehouse, first, would make it look neat and clean; second, it

would be easier to tidy up. Once a tenant left, one could just put up another layer of

wallpaper and there would be no need to repaint the wall.

Li Du had previously studied this matter and knew that wallpaper could be removed

without damaging the graffiti, because there were a few layers of wallpaper underneath.

Even scraping it off with a knife would cause no harm.

This task was given to Brother Wolf, who was a knife expert, very attentive and

meticulous. Hence, he was perfect for the job.