Should Street Art & Murals Be For Sale?
A recent article from Artsy.net examines “The Fraught Business of Removing and Selling Street Art Murals.” The practice of dismantling and selling famous street art murals, for example those by Banksy or Keith Haring, is highly controversial, and no small undertaking - it can mean removing entire walls from buildings, dealing with thousands of pounds of concrete, and of course there is the question of housing and displaying the work.
But the heart of the issue is not logistics - it’s the question of whether a work of art intended to be enjoyed by the public free of charge should be sold and privately owned. This article brings up interesting factors that can affect these situations, such as the endorsement (or not) of the artist, the wishes of the owner of the building/site, and the proposed future of the work (auction, museum, private sale, preservation, etc.).
The Keith Haring mural shown above was removed and sold for $3.8 million, marking the first time one of Haring’s murals was sold at auction.