The mystery of the name of the mysterious artist Banksy is in danger of being revealed

A legal row may finally force mysterious artist Banksy to reveal his real name. His identity has long been the subject of speculation and investigation, but Banksy may be forced to reveal his real name if a dispute over an engraving of the late Queen Elizabeth depicting the late Queen Elizabeth as a bejeweled primate reaches court.

Two art collectors have sued graffiti artist Pest Control after its apparent refusal to authenticate a Monkey Queen piece. After three years of trying to get an answer, Niki Katz and Ray Hawes lost patience and sued Pest Control for breach of contract, writes The Observer.

They point to Pest Control’s website, which says it will issue a certificate of authenticity to “paintings, prints, sculptures and other artistic endeavors”: “This means you can buy, sell or insure a piece of art knowing it is legitimate and the wheels won’t fall off.”

Banksy, known for his stencil-based images, described himself as a “quality vandal” who satirizes authority figures through artwork in public spaces. His partially destroyed painting Love in the Bin sold for more than £18.5 million at auction in 2021, while his autographed prints have sold for five and six-figure sums. Pest Control was founded by the artist in 2008 after counterfeit prints were sold online and plays a key role in the market for his work. It was argued that a certificate of authenticity was vital to achieving the maximum price when selling his works.

Banksy’s true identity has remained a mystery to the media and public for decades. Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naya, Gorillaz’s Jamie Hewlett and Neil Buchanan, the former host of TV program Art Attack, were all under suspicion, The Observer writes.

In 2008, the Daily Mail “outed” the artist as Robin Gunningham, then a 34-year-old former public school student, although the artist denied this. No one has been able to definitively link Gunningham and Banksy. It would ruin his mystique and perhaps the value his work brings.

A 2003 interview with a BBC reporter contains the only known instance of him revealing his name. In a recording that recently surfaced, Banksy is asked if his real name is “Robert Banks,” to which he responds, “It’s Robbie.”

Katz and House say they have tried in vain to get an opinion from Pest Control and whether “The Monkey Queen” is one of Banksy’s authentic prints from the limited edition of 150 copies.

They sent the artwork to Pest Control, explaining that they had purchased it for £30,000 in 2020 from the estate of recently deceased famous collector Banksy, but there appeared to be no accompanying documents detailing its collecting history.

Katz, 65, a Londoner who owns a quarry and an art collection that includes a large number of Banksy works, said Monkey Queen was worth between £55,000 and £70,000 and he was angered by the delay from Pest Control: “We’re in no man’s land and it is very expensive. money. They claim to be the official authors of this artist’s works. But this has been going on for three years now. They just sit back – they won’t say whether it’s right or wrong. All three years we were being pulled by our tails.”

He said to Pest Control: “You had a job; you checked it. Is she right or wrong? This is the service you claim to provide. If it is incorrect, it is okay because we will have a claim against the property from which the item was purchased. If it’s correct, great. Just provide us with the documents required to prove this. “They don’t provide proper service.”

Legal action is now the only option, he added: “We are suing Pest Control for breach of contract. They had three years to do what I paid them to do. [50 фунтов стерлингов]which by any standard is plenty of time to deal with the situation.”

He added: “I’m very disappointed with Banksy. He made it so that no one could authenticate his work without his certificate. This greatly affects the value of his work. If I had a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, there would be no “Leonardo Control” to back it up. I would just take it to the experts and have them tell me whether it is a work of art by Leonardo da Vinci or not. In the case of Banksy, even if you have an expert opinion confirming that the painting is his, if it does not have a pest control certificate, you cannot rely on that expert.”

John Brandler, a leading specialist in the sale of graffiti artists, said: “I believe this is the real Banksy, but these collectors have taken three years to achieve nothing at Pest Control. This is pure market manipulation because Banksy only certifies works that he wants specific people to have. This is not authentication. If someone discovers a Titian painting in the attic, no one says, ‘Who are you and why do you have it?’ Whether it’s Titian or not, Banksy makes it sound like, “Who are you and why should I tell you?”

But Brandler noted that prices for Banksy’s works are “significantly lower than they were three years ago.” He singled out a police car, which shows a car raised on bricks: “Two or three years ago it would have fetched between £1.5 million and £2 million. It was sold in Paris about a month ago for 300,000 euros.”

Pest Control said: “Our authentication process is robust and thorough, and sometimes lengthy. We have issued many thousands of certificates of authenticity.”