The Hackney Council of Stoke Newington, England just made a big mistake: it painted over a mural featuring a spoof image of the Royal Family by graffiti artist Banksy. The owner of the building on which the mural was painted, Sofie Attrill, agreed to have the mural painted so it could be used on the cover of the band Blur's 2003 single Crazy Beat. And for six years, it sat there, attracting plenty of attention.

When she saw the Banksy artwork partially covered in black paint, however, Attrill was moved to tears – a feeling ostensibly made worse by the fact that the workers were smiling as they covered the (once) priceless creation. Working with a crowd that had gathered, Attrill was able to get the painters to stop before they covered the mural completely.

The Hackney Council claimed to have had permission because it sent letters to Attrill and received no reply. Then, it sent an enforcement notice and again heard nothing. Unfortunately, they sent them to an address she used 25 years ago.

At first, the Hackney Council offered no apology. When it realized its error, though, it began to talk to Attrill about ways to resolve the situation.

[Photo of the Stoke Newington mural unavailable]

When times are tough, you don't spend when you don't have to. There's sufficient graffiti in London to keep art collectors entertained, which is causing them to shy away from works by Banksy. Larger auction houses have cut down on the Banksy works they are carrying, and some of the regional auction houses are canceling their urban art specialist sales.

It's hard to tell if Banksy is disappointed. The artist, who was born in Bristol (west England) keeps his (her?) identity a secret. So, if you see some weirdo crying in a corner over the next few weeks at a pub in Bristol (or, maybe, London), ask if it's Banksy. It could be cooler than finding Waldo.

Prices for pieces by Banksy have plunged this year, with failure rates on the rise. Auction houses are now sufficiently nervous to hedge their bets, carrying little (or no) inventory by the artist and canceling auctions that may not deliver.

In general, contemporary art auction selling points are down 30 percent to 50 percent – about as much as your 401(k). The top houses – Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams and Phillips de Pury – didn't carrying any of Banksy's work in their June or early July auctions. This year, 76 Banksy paintings and prints have come under the gavel, with 30 of them (almost half) not selling. The highest price reached was $230,500 at a New York Sotheby's event. Last year, the top price for a Banksy piece was $1.9 million at Sotheby's RED charity auction in February.

Kate Moss is back on the block at Bonhams Urban Art auction in London later this month. Banksy's images of Kate Moss as Marilyn Monroe are up for sale again. The six prints, each one signed and dated in pencil and numbered 02/20 are estimated to sell for : £100,000 - 150,000 and will be for sale on February 24. Banksy's prints of Moss as the modern Marilyn sold for £96,000 at the Bonhams Urban Art auction in February 2007 and a set of the six prints sold for around $94,000 back in 2006. Will the prints experience a similar upward bounce this year? I'd say these will come in for the low end of the estimate or maybe even below it despite the ongoing popularity of Kate Moss as art muse.

[via Vogue UK]

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.