Fancy a Banksy? Signed pieces on sale in Parnell next week

Richard Thomson, director of the International Art Centre, says the centre was getting calls from Banksy fans around the world. Photo / Michael Craig

Two signed Banksy prints that will be part of a sale in Parnell next week are expected to bring in almost $100,000 between them.

The sale at the International Art Centre is set to be the largest Banksy sale in Australasia.

The signed pieces, Monkey Queen and 2005 piece Napalm, are two of eight Banksy pieces for sale at the Parnell art centre on November 17.

International Art Centre director Richard Thomson calls Napalm one of Banksy's most disturbing works.

"You see one of the most horrifying images to come out of the Vietnam War when a naked 9-year-old girl was photographed running and screaming with pain after a napalm attack," he says.

"Banksy has combined that image with two childhood fantasy figures, Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse and McDonald's Ronald McDonald, in a disarming juxtapose, smiling as they lead the terrorised girl away from disaster. No one can be unmoved by that."

Thomson says the two signed Banksy pieces are attracting global attention.

"The eight Banksy works and the two Goldies have huge artistic merit in their own right, but with many other very significant works of art in the catalogue, this sale is probably one of the most important we have seen on the New Zealand art calendar," Thomson says.

The centre is getting enquiries for the Banksy pieces from around the world, he says.

"Most of the ones we've sold so far have been sold to Kiwis and some have been record prices as well."

"He's not doing any more and we're one of the few auction houses in the world that actually gets to sell Banksys."

Sought-after provocative Banksy work, Love is in the Air, is expected to bring between $150,000 and $250,000.

Two works from Charles Frederick Goldie, known for his paintings of Māori figures, will also feature in the sale.

Goldie's Harieta Huirua - A Chieftainess of the Tuhourangi Tribe is expected to bring in $450,000.

The piece was owned by the same family for nearly 90 years before it was sold in 2008 by the International Art Centre to the present owner.