some sort of Banksy retrospective
After a 20-minute bidding duel, the hammer landed at GBP 14,400,000. With the Buyers Premium, the buyer has to cough up GBP 16,758,000 – a new auction record for a Banksy canvas. The seller is NHS and the Southampton University Hospital. According to the lot sheet from Christie’s: “The proceeds will be used to support the wellbeing of University Hospital Southampton staff and patients.”
The piece depicts Oscar Wilde escaping from Reading Gaol, his typewriter knotted to the sheets. Oscar Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading GAOL prison after being convicted of gross indecency in 1895. Wilde was sentenced to two years of forced labour.
The piece has not yet been confirmed by Banksy’s usual channels, but it appears to be authentic. Maybe Banksy’s next big project is a book?
Banksy unofficial 