Banksy artworks owned by Robbie Williams will go on sale at a Sotheby’s London auction in March. The trio of works will be offered for a combined estimate of £10 million ($13.6 million).
The well-known works are Girl with Balloon from 2002, as well as Vandalised Oils (Choppers) and Kissing Coppers, both from 2005. It’s the first time the British pop star is selling art from his vault; Williams bought the works directly from the artist not long after they were made, but years before the artist’s market exploded in prices.
Each is a version of the reclusive artist’s iconic stencilled street art that cropped up around the U.K. in the early 2000s. Girl with Balloon was first seen under Waterloo Bridge in 2002, while Vandalised Oils (Choppers) appeared in Whitecross Street Market in east London that same year. Kissing Choppers was originally spotted on a wall of a pub in Brighton in 2004. Williams said that the pieces “combine three things I love: hip-hop culture, naughtiness, and comedy.”
The paintings are among the highlights of Sotheby’s debut evening sale in London called “The Now,” which takes place on March 2. Each of the Banksy pieces carries a pre-sale estimate between £2 million ($2.7 million) and £3.5 million ($4.8 million), excluding fees.
Works by the street artist have become some of the most sought-after items in the art market in recent years. His famed work Love is in the Bin sold for a record $25.4 million (including fees) to an Asian buyer at a Sotheby’s London sale last October. The work was originally a version of Girl With Balloon but it self-destructed after it went under hammer in a 2018 sale.
The trio of works will go on tour in New York over the coming week before heading to Hong Kong in early February. They will then travel back to London for the sale on March 2.