The Banksy works you can’t see: the stolen, the damaged, the missing

STREET ART
Banksy’s Lost Works
Will Ellsworth-Jones
Batsford GB, $39.99

In May 2012, a plumber in Prahran fitting pipes accidently destroyed a mural worth an estimated $50,000. The parachuting rat is said to have been painted on the wall of the Melbourne suburb in 2003 by Street artist Banksy. Market value ensures most artworks by the anonymous British graffiti artist typically don’t last that long.

Banksy’s most expensive painting, Love is in the Bin, sold for £18.6 million ($A37.8 million) in October 2021. But auction houses usually won’t touch a Banksy without the stamp of authenticity from Pest Control, Banksy’s official website. There have been some exceptions, but generally, he doesn’t authenticate work taken off the street either. But that doesn’t stop building owners, or curious thieves, from trying. They “will literally take off the whole side of a property if necessary to get to a Banksy,” writes Will Ellsworth-Jones in Banksy’s Lost Works.

The quirky guidebook is illustrated with photographs of more than 50 works of Banksy’s street art, which have since been removed, gone missing, or been destroyed. Ellsworth-Jones’ writing style is casual and conversational, telling the story of each missing mural in less than a couple of pages. It means there isn’t much room left for artistic analysis.

Although the British journalist-author doesn’t claim to be an art critic, as he made clear in Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall (2012), the unconventional biography pieced together a rough sketch of the world’s most famous graffiti artist, whose identity remains unknown.

Banksy’s work Love In The Bin, which self-destructed when it was sold at auction.Credit: AP

Banksy’s artistic journey began in the 1980s, in Bristol, England, where he joined a burgeoning graffiti scene, via a youth club. He has painted roughly 40 murals in his home city, most of which have been removed, including Mobile Lovers (2014), discovered on a plywood board, nailed to a door, near a Bristol youth club. When staff later removed it, Bristol city council claimed it was their property. Then Banksy intervened.

“You have my blessing to do what you think is right with the piece,” said a letter the artist posted under the entrance door of the youth club. “I’m a great admirer of the work done at the club and would be chuffed if this could help.” The letter, plus the painting, was sold to a private collector for £403,000 ($A820,000). ”Enough money had been made to save the youth club,” Ellsworth-Jones explains.