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"Devolved Parliament", in which chimpanzees
replace politicians, measures 13 feet (4 m) long, making it the
largest known canvas by the secretive British street artist,
according to Sotheby's.
With an eye on the 2009 work's extreme topicality - the House of
Commons is witnessing increasingly brutish exchanges over
Britain's EU departure - the auction house has set its estimated
price tag at 1.5 million - 2 million pounds ($1.84 million -
$2.46 million)
"There's no doubt that today this image has incredible currency
not just here in the UK but across Europe and beyond," said Alex
Branczik, Sotheby's head of contemporary art, Europe.
"Here we see this, one of our oldest democracies and within it
we see the regression toward tribal animalistic behavior."
Parliament has been at boiling point since it reconvened on
Wednesday, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his opponents
clashing in hours of furious argument over Brexit.
The artwork will be on display at Sotheby's London until it goes
under the hammer on Oct. 3, a year after another Banksy canvas,
"Girl with Balloon", shredded itself in front of shocked
onlookers at a Sotheby's auction just as it was sold.
"There's been lots of comment, inevitably," Branczik said. "...I
can say categorically there is no shredder in this frame. It
would have to be an incredibly large one and I can say with
confidence that that is not the case."
(Reporting by Marissa Davison; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian;
editing by John Stonestreet)
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