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]

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.