Investors prefer banksy to banks
It has been an extremely busy January, I suspect a result of New Year Resolutions being put into action and keeping our telephones busier than usual. We also began the inevitable rush toward the end of one tax year and the beginning of another - no matter how much we reduce the level of last minute activity we’re unable to eliminate it completely.
It has been a busier start to the year in relation to our press activities, and a couple of Money Makeover in the Times have also garnered some new clients, as well as the attention of other publications keen to get our views. Yesterday we were asked for some comment about the quarter point cut in the bank base rate, which ended with the pithy comment that investors seemed more comfortable investing in Banksy than in the Bank!
Earlier in the week I had been one of the 500 or so people tightly squeezed into Bonhams New Bond Street showrooms for their first ever Urban Art Auction, which was a resounding success. Banksy, being the most well known urban artist, commanded the highest prices, and “lots” were routinely selling well above the estimates. I had tripped along to see if I could get my hands on a “Kate Moss” print in the style of Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe pictures, but the estimate of between £20,000 - £40,000 was easily eclipsed as it went on to sell for over £80,000 excluding commissions and artists royalties.
The art world it would seem is the place where fortunes are being spent, and for some, where fortunes are made. Banksy one assumes must be laughing all the way to the bank, so long as it’s not Northern Rock. But that’s another story.
