The work of elusive British street artist Banksy tends to fetch a hefty sum on the auction block. But how about an entire building bearing one of his murals? We’re about to find out as a property in Bristol, U.K. boasting an early Banksy on one of its outer walls hits the market.
The building, located in Stokes Croft in the center of Bristol, features the Banksy artwork on its right side. Titled Mild Mild West, the mural first appeared on the building in 1999 and depicts a teddy bear hurling a molotov cocktail at a group of police officers. The artist was inspired to paint the work after a New Years’ Eve warehouse party on the city’s Winterstoke Road was raided by authorities.
The current owner bought the building for £55,000 ($71,000) in 2000, not long after the artwork went up. At the time, the structure was vacant, but today it is a mixed-use property that houses four bedrooms as well as a barber shop on the ground floor.
Banksy’s Mild Mild West (1999) mural on No. 80 Stokes Croft in Bristol, the U.K. Photo: Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images.
Estate agent and auctioneer Hollis Morgan has listed the property with a guide price of £750,000 ($979,000) and a description that nods to its Banksy: “Bristol’s home-grown and anonymous graffiti artist Banksy is known all across the world for his satirical, anti-establishment, and thought-provoking street art. Interested parties to make their own investigations.”
Speaking to the Evening Standard, the company’s director Andrew Morgan said it expects “enormous interest [in the property], certainly in this part of the world, because he’s a local boy.”
Banksy’s painting of the mural has also been documented in the 2013 book Banksy’s Bristol: Home Sweet Home. In it, one Jim Paine, who owned a record store next to the building, claims to have encouraged the artist to create the work. According to Paine, Banksy painted the work over three days, starting with the background, then the bear and the cops, before he finished off with the lettering.
“Banksy’s a perfectionist,” he recalled. “I love the way the teddy looks slightly wobbly, slightly ungainly… he looks kinda docile. It’s a simple piece, but there’s so much to read into it.”
Security fencing, wooden hoardings and plastic screens surround the latest confirmed work by street artist Banksy, on March 27, 2024 in London, England. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images.
While having an original Banksy on one’s building can be a draw for some, others have found it to be problematic.
The artist’s 2006 work on the side of an office building in the Shoreditch neighborhood of London, featuring Apache helicopters with pink bows, was painted over by a landlord after crowds kept triggering a security light. Last year, a couple in Lowestoft, U.K. revealed that they paid upwards of $250,000 to have a Banksy artwork removed from their building due to the stress of maintaining it.
Earlier this year, Banksy’s tree mural, which drew large crowds and one act of vandalism, prompted the owner of the building to build a fort-like structure to protect it. And on the heels of Banksy’s zoological spree in London this past summer, measures have been taken to safeguard the works, from “anti-graffiti” protection to a wholesale removal.