Another work by street artist Banksy is to be sold on Tyneside.
In January Newcastle auctioneers Anderson and Garland sold a model of a stable by Banksy for the hammer price of £800,000.
Now a limited-edition print of one of Banksy’s most famous works, Love Rat, will be on offer at the Newcastle saleroom on June 16 with an initial estimate of £30,000-£50,000.
Numbered 335/600, the screenprint is of a work which was originally a graffiti piece in Liverpool, and will be sold as part of Anderson and Garland’s Modern Art and Design auction.
“As one of the most sought after and iconic of Banksy’s designs, the sky really is the limit,” said Julian Thomson, managing director of Anderson and Garland.
Alongside Love Rat, there are also 10 smaller Banksy-related lots in the sale. These include items collected from Dismaland, a temporary art project organised by the artist in the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare, in 2015, as a take on Disneyland,
The model of the stable sold in January was added to Merrivale Model Village in Great Yarmouth as part of the Great British Spraycation – a 2021 series of artworks by the anonymous street artist.
Owners Frank and Frances Newsome, who have strong links with the North East, decided to auction the piece over fears the original could be stolen and hope the sale will secure the future of the tourist attraction.
The thatched stable features a rodent and the words ‘Go Big Or Go Home” scrawled on the side.
After the sale, Mr Newsome said: “My family and I are absolutely delighted with the result. It’s a fantastic result for the park. We were delighted to be able to sell the model in the North East.”
Also in the upcoming sale is a 1970s photograph of children playing near the riverside in South Shields by Graham Smith, one of the leading photographers with the Tyneside-based Amber Collective. It has an estimated value of £1,800 -£2,400.
One of the Amber film and photography collective’s aims was to capture working class life in the North East.
Amber’s 1970s River Project involved touring the industrial communities of the Tyne, and included the films Launch and High Row.
The Graham Smith picture was as part of the recording of the South Shields river environment.