Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist in 2001
Sotheby's Olympia, 'Contemporary Art', 7 February 2007, lot 529
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner
Catalogue Essay
Rats with cameras, children holding heart-shaped balloons, and policemen kissing each other – this is the witty and uniquely imaginary world of Banksy, Britain’s most famous contemporary street artist, as well as its most mysterious.

Banksy has been making his distinctive hand-painted mark on the world’s cityscapes since the early 1990s, turning them into his own idiosyncratic sketchbooks. Primarily created by spraying black-and-white paint through stencils, his artworks are at times humorous and nostalgic, but their apparent whimsicality masks a sharp political bite, and they often convey anti-war messages. Such is the case with Bomb Middle England, in which three mild-looking senior citizens are pictured on a manicured green playing the polite English game of bowls but using bombs instead of balls. This is one of the artist’s quintessential strategies: to humorously disarm war-related iconography by turning it into an image of peace, such as with his famous masked flower-thrower in Love is the Air.

Street art is often considered to have originated with the birth of hip-hop culture in late 1970s America. But its roots actually lie in earlier guerilla art forms such as the Situationist actions of the 1950s and the radical happenings of the 1960s, intended as a critique of art’s commodification by the cultural establishment. For example in the early 1960s, the Danish ex- Situationist Asger Jorn made a series of what he called ‘Modifications’ or ‘Défigurations’, in which he painted over cheap 19th-century prints, usually sourced from flea markets, to enhance and modernise what he considered meaningless old images. With this venerable lineage, street art today encompasses many art forms and styles, including graffiti, posters, installation, video, and many forms of modern technology.

After many years of making his hugely popular polemical yet funny work, Banksy has helped raise street art from an underground cult into a globally recognised movement. Thanks to his success, critics and galleries have raised the profile of many other graffiti artists. Examples include designer Shepard Fairey, responsible for Barack Obama’s iconic ‘Hope’ poster from the 2008 US election, and the Norwegian stencil artist Dolk, both of who are now represented by mainstream galleries.

But despite street art’s elevation to high culture, Banksy’s belief in a ‘democratic’ form of art, accessible to everyone, remains firm: "Despite what they say, graffiti art is not the lowest form of art, although you might have to creep out at night and lie to your mum, it’s actually one of the more honest art forms available. There is no elitism or hype, it exhibits on the best walls a town has to offer and nobody is put off by the price of admission" (Bansky: Wall and Piece, p. 8).
Artist Biography
Banksy
British • 1975 - N/A
Anonymous street artist Banksy first turned to graffiti as a miserable fourteen year old disillusioned with school. Inspired by the thriving graffiti community in his home city, Bristol, Banksy's works began appearing on trains and walls in 1993, and by 2001 his blocky, spray-painted works had cropped up all over the United Kingdom. Typically crafting his images with spray paint and cardboard stencils, Banksy is able to achieve a meticulous level of detail. His aesthetic is clean and instantly readable due to his knack for reducing complex political and social statements to simple visual elements.

His graffiti, paintings and screenprints use whimsy and humour to satirically critique war, capitalism, hypocrisy and greed — with not even the Royal family safe from his anti-establishment wit.
View More Works

15

Banksy

Bomb Middle England

2001
acrylic and spraypaint stencil on canvas
92 x 183 cm (36 1/4 x 72 in)
Tagged 'BANKSY' on the right overlap. This work has been authenticated by Pest Control Office and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

Estimate
£100,000 - 150,000 ♠

Sold for £229,250

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

14 February 2013
London

1
Nate Lowman
Green Escalade
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000
Sold for £337,250
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2
Rob Pruitt
Power of the Panda (Happy Alone)
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 †
Sold for £115,250
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3
Dan Colen
A Slip of the Tongue
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £133,250
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4
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Black and Canary Yellow Butterfly) #699
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡
Sold for £457,250
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5
Rashid Johnson
Write me In
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
Sold for £85,250
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6
Donald Judd
Untitled (91-149 Menziken)
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000
Sold for £337,250
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7
Christopher Wool
Untitled (P271)
Estimate £1,300,000 - 1,800,000 ‡
Sold for £1,665,250
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8
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Look and listen)
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
Sold for £253,250
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9
Andy Warhol
Brillo Soap Pads Box
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡
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10
Andy Warhol
Tomato Juice Box
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £223,250
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11
Andy Warhol
Hammer and Sickle
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £247,250
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12
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
Estimate £1,800,000 - 2,500,000 ‡
Sold for £1,945,250
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13
Andy Warhol
Beatle Boots (Negative)
Estimate £550,000 - 650,000 ‡
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14
Jean-Michel Basquiat
For B.A.M.
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ‡
Sold for £763,830
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15
Banksy
Bomb Middle England
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠
Sold for £229,250
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16
Jonathan Wateridge
Jungle River Landscape with Plane Wreck
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠
Sold for £109,250
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17
Albert Oehlen
Student II
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡♠
Sold for £169,250
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18
Jean Dubuffet
Le Chien Rodeur
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡♠
Sold for £325,250
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19
Cecily Brown
East of Eden
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
Sold for £724,450
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20
Damien Hirst
Untitled 2 (Spot Painting)
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £295,250
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21
Marc Quinn
Frozen Head
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
Sold for £713,250
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22
This lot is no longer available.
23
Rosemarie Trockel
Waterfall
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ♠
Sold for £361,250
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24
Richard Prince
What Can You Do?
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡
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25
Elizabeth Peyton
Dr. Scarpinato (Vincent)
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡
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26
George Condo
Untitled (Choo Choo)
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ‡
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27
Cindy Sherman
Untitled #469
Estimate £180,000 - 220,000 ‡
Sold for £205,250
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28
The Bruce High Quality Foundation
Las Meninas
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £181,250
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29
Thomas Houseago
Caryatide with Squatting Man
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ♠†
Sold for £73,250
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30
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000 ‡♠
Sold for £79,250
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31
Ryan Sullivan
July 24, 2011 - September 28, 2011
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000
Sold for £91,250
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32
Mark Tansey
Study for the Valley of Doubt
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡
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33
Yan Pei-Ming
Invisible Man no. 1
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £163,250
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34
Isa Genzken
Empire/Vampire
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ♠
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35
Sterling Ruby
Monument Stalagmite/Headbanger
Estimate £70,000 - 100,000 †
Sold for £85,250
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36
Marc Quinn
Careless Desire
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠
Sold for £157,250
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

14 February 2013 London

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Banksy

15

Banksy

Bomb Middle England

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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14 February 2013
London