Bansky coronavirus art accidentally scrubbed from London Tube
New coronavirus-inspired artwork by Banksy could have been worth up to $9.5 million (£7.5 million) — had it not been mistakenly wiped away.
The street artist walked onto a London subway car sometime last week — disguised in hooded coveralls, an orange hi-fi vest, gloves, face mask and goggles and holding a pressurized spray paint canister with a hose attachment, much like the ones sanitation workers use to wash train interiors. Video of the stunt that later surfaced online confirmed to Transport for London (TFL) officials that Banksy had indeed “tagged” the Tube with depictions of his iconic rat sneezing, using hand sanitizer gel and wearing a surgical face mask.
Sadly, few had the opportunity to spot the artwork, officially titled “If you don’t mask — you don’t get,” before a TFL worker came and scrubbed away what he assumed was standard vandalism.
Even more unfortunate, the graffitied car could have fetched many millions at auction — money which likely would have gone on to charity. Given its size and relation to these historic times, art market experts believe it could have been one of his most valuable yet.
In 2019, the artist/vandal clocked his biggest sale yet with a piece titled “Devolved Parliament,” which depicts apes sitting in Parliament’s House of Commons. It went for more than $12 million. During that time, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and members of Parliament were embroiled in controversy over Brexit plans.
“It’s highly likely whoever removed it was following procedure and had no idea they were destroying a Banksy,” Joey Syer, co-founder of MyArtBroker.com, tells the Daily Mail, “Had TFL management known, and had the opportunity to remove and protect the installation we estimate its value as a complete package to be in the region of £7.5 million.”
A London Underground employee has come forward to the Evening Standard to admit they had scrubbed the artwork, per their strict no-tolerance policy for graffiti.
“When we saw the video, we started to look into it and spoke to the cleaners,” the source says. “It started to emerge that they had noticed some sort of ‘rat thing’ a few days ago and cleaned it off, as they should. It rather changes the aspect for anyone seeking to go down the route of accusing us of cultural vandalism.”
A spokesperson for TFL says, “We appreciate the sentiment of encouraging people to wear face coverings, which the vast majority of customers on our transport network are doing.” They also welcomed Banksy to re-create the work “in a suitable location.”
Law enforcement officials were quick to piggyback on the artist’s message, despite having been duped by the brazen vandal. “Banksy’s strength of feeling towards the importance of wearing face coverings on public transport mirrors our own, which is why we have hundreds of officers out across the capital every day encouraging passengers to wear their face coverings,” a British Transport Police spokesperson tells the Daily Mail.
“Regardless, please remember that it is an offense to deface any Tube or train carriage, or other station property,” they add.
