Banksy, the British graffiti artist who remains semi-anonymous, had five of his works at a Lyon and Turnbull auction in London over the weekend. None of them sold.

Part of the problem stemmed from Banksy's refusal to claim the work as his own. Banksy has a history of stating that street art should remain in its places of origin, and this group of pieces had been moved. In the past the controversial artist's work has earned double the expected auction price.

[via The New York Times]

In terms of pop art, Kate Moss is definitely a successor to Marilyn Monroe as a most used (or perhaps overused) icon. Banksy's prints of Moss as the modern Marilyn sold for £96,000 at the Bonham's Urban Art auction in February (a set of the six prints sold for around $94,000 back in 2006). Now the Helium Foundation, is releasing a complete portfolio of all six Kate prints for sale. The Helium Foundation hasn't released pricing information on the prints but there is a limited edition of 20 sets. Is Kate a sound investment? It would certainly seem so currently, pictures of Kate Moss by a variety of artists have commanded high prices in several auctions. Check out the gallery below for a few sample of Kate as an art muse.

[via Vogue UK]

Even though Angelina Jolie paid nearly $400,000 for a few pieces from the graffiti artist Banksy last month in Los Angeles, his works have never reached a price that high at conventional auctions. But the prices are creeping up as his works gain a wider audience. At a Sotheby's auction in London, a set of six pictures of Kate Moss, done in the style of Andy Warhol, sold for about $94,000 (£50,400) and a sketch of the Mona Lisa, "sprayed green and with paint dripping from her eyes," went for almost £109,000 (£57,600). The prices were much more than double their estimates, setting new records at auction for the artist's work.

At guerilla artist Banksy's Los Angeles show this week, Angelina Jolie spent nearly $400,000 on three pieces. One painting, called Picnic, shows a "white family of four lunching under an umbrella while 15 starving Africans look on," and another is a portrait of a man who was hit in the head with a pie. The last item was a "bullet-ridden bust." Picnic alone cost $226,000, while the other two pieces sold for $75,000 each.

You can see a photo of Picnic on Flickr, as well as more photos from the exhibition.

The pop artist Christina Aguilera has just dropped £25,000 - that's about $43,500 - on a painting by the British graffiti artist Banksy.  The painting shows the late Queen Victoria, who passed anti-homosexual laws and "famously believed women were incapable of being gay", depicted as a lesbian. Victoria, clad in stockings and garter belt, is painted in a compromising position with another woman. Aguilera plans to display the controversial painting in her home.

The painting is after the jump and is possibly not safe for work.