Eight Banksy prints will be offered and among the highlights is Banksy’s Rude Copper print, numbered one out of an edition of 250.
According to Forum, this picture was printed by Pictures on Walls in 2002 and is recognised as the artist’s first commercially produced screenprint.
Of the 250 in the edition, only c.50 were signed and fewer still hand sprayed with the ‘FUCK THE POLICE’ tagline.
It had been purchased by the seller at Sydney’s Semi Permanent exhibition in 2003 for AUS$400.
It will be offered at Forum’s Editions and Works on Paper sale on January 21 at The Westbury Hotel with an estimate of £70,000-90,000. It is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Banksy’s Pest Control Office.
According to the description the image “questions the traditionally romanticised image of the friendly neighbourhood bobby on the beat, instead warning us to be wary of authority. The image also parodies the cat-and-mouse relationship between graffiti artists and the police’s efforts to crack down on the vandalism of public spaces.”
View and bid for Banksy's Rude Copper via thesaleroom.com.
Forum Auctions’ sale includes seven other numbered and signed prints such as Napalm and Love is in the Air.
