By Kyle Castellanos
Modern art’s most infamous anonymous artist, Banksy, worked with art broker Sotheby’s yet again to place one of his works up for sale. Devolved Parliament, Banksy’s largest known oil on canvas painting, hit the auction house almost one year after his most famous media stunt—in which Girl with Balloon was auto-shredded during a live sale at Sotheby’s. Devolved Parliament was expected to sell for anywhere between $1.8 million to $2.5 million. Instead, the painting blew out Banksy’s previous record auction sale, selling for over $12 million.
Originally exhibited in 2009 at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery with the title Question Time, the painting features chimpanzees in place of Members of Parliament, one of several artworks produced by Banksy offering political commentary on British politics. However, when re-exhibited on September 28th, 2019, the painting had sustained physical changes on the canvas, in addition to a title change to Devolved Parliament, a sure jab at the devolution of the world’s oldest parliamentary democracy to tribal and animalistic behavior amid ongoing Brexit talks.
Banksy’s last post-production alteration in Girl with Balloon also received a name change, titled Love Is in the Bin after self-destructing. The most notable impact of Banksy’s stunt was felt economically. Experts suggest that Love Is in the Bin is now worth about double its original $1.4 million bid price.
Similarly, before alteration, Question Time was merely known in art-centered academic circles. After post-production alteration and its renewed political relevancy thanks to Brexit, Devolved Parliament is now the most expensive Banksy production of all time, more than sextupling the previous record price.
Unlike other art movements, contemporary art has no “finished product.” The Mona Lisa will always maintain the initial composition Leonardo da Vinci intended for it to have. However, as observed through the alterations of Love Is in the Bin and Devolved Parliament, even when transitioning to private ownership, artworks are always liable to a change in composition and, consequently, change in valuation.
The only way to accurately describe the economics of contemporary art is to label it as volatile. Ever-changing compositions leave contemporary artworks highly susceptible to fluctuations in market prices. This is due to the fact that the art world does not have a set financial backbone nor economic structure. In other words, prices are instead backed by societal and cultural impulses, highly influenced by post-production alterations.