Banksy’s ‘Show me the Monet’ to go on sale for up to £5 million

Painting hailed as one of street artist’s most important works previewed in London

Banksy's 'Show Me The Monet' is the star lot of the auction on October 21. Getty Images

Street artist Banksy's tongue-in-cheek tribute to renowned impressionist Claude Monet will go on sale at Sotheby's in London for an estimated £3-5 million (Dh14.2-23.7m).

The oil painting, titled Show me the Monet, dates from 2005 and features the beloved French painter's lily pond strewn with jarring additions including partially submerged shopping trolleys and a floating traffic cone.

The work is due to go on sale at a livestreamed auction in London on Wednesday, October 21, where estimates suggest it could sell for up to £5 million. It was first shown as part of the elusive street artist's second gallery exhibition in the UK capital 15 years ago.

The painting was unveiled on Friday for the start of a two-day preview and will travel on to New York and Hong Kong this month.

Sotheby’s European head of contemporary art, Alex Branczik, said: “In one of his most important paintings, Banksy has taken Monet’s iconic depiction of the Japanese bridge in the impressionist master’s famous garden at Giverny and transformed it into a modern-day fly-tipping spot.

“Ever prescient as a voice of protest and social dissent, here Banksy shines a light on society’s disregard for the environment in favour of the wasteful excesses of consumerism.”

A Banksy painting depicting British members of parliament as chimpanzees sold for £9.9 million in what is believed to be a record for the artist.

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A graffiti by British street artist Banksy showing a dove with a bulletproof vest is seen in the Israeli occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem on March 15, 2017. AFP

Two men are sitting in front of a famous graffiti of British street artist Banksy, painted on a wall of a gas station in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on December 16, 2015. AFP

A Palestinian boy walks past a Banksy mural of children using an Israeli army watch tower as a swing ride in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, as seen on April 10, 2015. EPA

'The Flower Thrower', arguably one of the most famous works by Banksy, depicts a masked Palestinian man throwing a bouquet of flowers, seen in Bethlehem on December 12, 2018. EPA

Palestinians ride a motorcycle past words thought to be painted by British street artist Banksy on the wall of destroyed homes in Beit Hanoun town in northern Gaza. Pictured on April 10, 2015. EPA

A work by Banksy, seen in Bethlehem in December 2007. The stencilled work has been interpreted to depict a small girl in a dress, thought to be Palestinian, frisking an Israeli soldier. EPA

An armed Palestinian policeman stands before 'The Armoured Dove', a graffiti painting by Banksy depicting a peace dove wearing a flak jacket with crosshairs on the bird's chest, painted on a wall at the entrance to the West Bank city of Bethlehem, as photographed on January 6, 2019. EPA

Banksy opened The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem in 2017. EPA

A view through a window inside The Walled Off Hotel. EPA

A room at The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem with a work by Bansky, depicting an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian protester during a pillow fight. EPA

A graffiti mural of a kitten by Banksy, on the wall of the Al Shimbari family's home, which was damaged during the 2014 conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. Seen on February 27, 2015. EPA

'Scar of Bethlehem' is a modified nativity set that Banksy created for the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem in December 2019 . EPA

A rumoured work by Banksy, depicting a camel with human figures climbing up and down its legs. Seen on December 4, 2007. EPA

A stencilled work by Banksy, showing an Israeli soldier asking a donkey for its identity card, seen on December 4, 2006. EPA

A mural by Banksy in Beit Hanoun, as seen in February 2015, depicts a bent figure wearing a head scarf, painted on the door of a home destroyed by the Israeli military in 2014. EPA

Graffiti thought to be by Banksy, as seen in December 2007 in Bethlehem. The white donkey has what appears to be a small Palestinian village on its bac,k and the black donkey carries on its back what appears to be a modern Israeli town. The work was not signed by Banksy. EPA

Banksy street art on the entrance to the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, as seen on April 18, 2019. EPA

This stencil of a tank being towed away on the wall of a house on a main street in Bethlehem is credited to Banksy, but not signed, as seen December 4, 2007. EPA