Blink 182 bassist and singer Mark Hoppus will sell a Banksy via Sotheby’s next month, with the artwork expected to realise as much as £5 million.
The painting is Crude Oil (Vettriano), a remix by the Bristol street artist of the incredibly popular Jack Vettriano picture, The Singing Butler.
Hoppus bought the piece in 2011 with his wife, Skye.
The couple say they intend to use the money they get for it to support younger artists. They will also donate to two California charities and to support reconstruction after the Los Angeles wildfires.
Mark Hoppus has been the only constant member of Blink 182 over a three-decade career. Image by Max Montgomery, courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Oliver Barker, the chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said: “This isn’t just an iconic Banksy, it is a Banksy that has been treasured by music legend, Mark Hoppus, who fell for this work for its rebellious spirit, raw edge and unfiltered expression – the fundamentals that also shaped Mark’s world: Punk culture. Street art and Punk Rock share the same vocabulary – they speak to the outsider, the rebel and the overlooked.”
Although the piece was first shown in a 2005 Banksy show called Crude Oils: A Gallery of Re-mixed Masterpieces, Vandalism and Vermin it is unusual in being entirely hand-painted by the pseudonymous artist.
It is a retelling of Jack Vettriano’s picture, which sold in 2004 for £744,800, a record for a Scottish painting and strong for a living artist.
The image is known as Britain’s most popular art poster. Banksy apparently appreciated the disconnect between Vettriano’s massive popularity and the disdain with which the artistic establishment treated his work.
Banksy works are often created in public spaces, sometimes with complications around ownership.
One of his paintings self-shredded at the moment it was sold for £18.6 million in 2013.
Blink 182 were formed in California in 1992. They have sold more than 50 million albums.
Mr Hoppus said: “We loved this painting since the moment we saw it. Unmistakably Banksy, but different. We bought it because we loved it. It’s borne witness to our family over these past dozen years. It hung over the table in London where we ate breakfast and our son did his homework. It hung in our living room in Los Angeles. It’s seen laughter and tears and parties and arguments. Our son has grown up in front of it. This painting has meant so much to us and been such an amazing part of our lives, and now I’m excited for it to be out there in the world, seen by as many as possible. Go get ‘em. Godspeed.”
