Street Artist claims Banksy artwork is his

A street artist who goes by the name of Silent Bill says the stencil of a rat which was thought to be Banksy’s is in fact his.

The piece was put to auction in the Channel 4 television show The Greatest Auction after someone removed it from a wall in Liverpool.

It was bought by popular art dealer Robin Barton even though experts had said they were not 100 per cent sure it was a genuine Banksy piece. Despite that Barton won a bidding war for the picture.

But Silent Bill said he created the piece in 2013 as a tribute to Banksy’s earlier drawing of a rat.

Silent Bill wasn’t happy that the piece had been sold at a private auction. He said the seller should have given the money to charity. He said Banksy’s works should stay where they are as gifts from the artist to the city where he draws and sold for profit.

He also said, “Whilst I am thinking ‘A fool and his money’ I am also thinking the sale highlights the UK’s current inequality and austerity when the paint on a wall has just sold for the cost that would house two homeless families.”

Banksy’s work is regularly sold. Often a wall is removed to get to the artwork. During the pandemic in 2020, Banksy donated a painting to the University Hospital, Southampton. The hospital sold the work for £14.4 million pounds and the money was given to charities and NHS organisations.