Bonhams holds world’s first urban art auction

Devotees of graffiti art already include celebrity collectors such as Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Dennis Hopper, Jude Law and Keanu Reeves. Now graffiti is set to join the art establishment, with the world's first auction devoted entirely to urban art. Works by Americans Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and David Salle, who are hailed as the godfathers of graffiti art, as well as contemporary British artists such as Banksy and Antony Micallef will all go under the hammer at London auction house Bonhams in February.
 
The sale of 100 paintings will include Banksy's screen print of Kate Moss, which is estimated to sell for up to £30,000 and Paul Insect's portrait of Elvis Presley, estimated at £8,000. Others in the Bonhams sale include Shepard Fairey, a 37-year-old American who is often credited as the inspiration for Banksy.
 
This year Bonhams sold two works by Banksy, who guards his real identity but is thought to be 33 and from Bristol. A self-portrait fetched £198,000 and a copy of a cover he painted for the Blur album Think Tank went for £228,000. A boom in urban art has been taking place around the world and huge interest is expected in the Bonhams event. "What this sale does is show how urban art has emerged from an underground sub-culture to the mainstream," said Gareth Williams, Bonhams' urban art specialist. "In Britain this has only really happened in the past four or five years." ·