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Banksy Honors Basquiat in London, Record Price for Harry Potter Book, and More Fresh News

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson
One of the Banksy murals that appeared over the weekend near the Barbican Centre. Image courtesy of Banksy

 

News and updates from around the arts and auction community:

  • The meaning of Banksy’s latest set of murals has been explained by the elusive street artist on Instagram. The new street paintings, which herald the Thursday opening of an exhibition devoted to the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, appeared over the weekend in a tunnel close to the Barbican Centre in central London. [Read more from HuffPost UK]
  • A rare first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone set a world auction record when it sold for $81,250 in Dallas last week. Only 500 original copies were published; 300 of them were sent to British libraries. [Read more from Heritage Auctions]
  • Kevin Spacey is unrecognizable as billionaire art collector J. Paul Getty (1892-1976) in the new Ridley Scott production, All the Money in the World. The film focuses on the kidnapping of Getty’s 16-year-old grandson and the ransom the oil tycoon initially refused to pay. [Read more from The Independent]
  • A charity for local schools in Norfolk, Virginia, has been sitting on a valuable French treasure – a lavish, antique grand piano that has been valued at $260K. Now, understandably, they’re looking to sell it. [Read more from The Virginian-Pilot]

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