From Basquiat to Banksy

If you are a Banksy, Basquiat or urban street art fan you'll be interested in the first Private Sale at Christies in London - following the lifting on most restrictions for all retail

It's titled Off the Wall: Basquiat to Banksy 

"Off the Wall: Basquiat to Banksy" is a private selling exhibition showcasing the contemporary explosion of street art, charting a course through post-punk New York, millennial Britain and beyond. From the illicit and illegitimate to the painterly and political, it celebrates the negotiation between street and studio over nearly half a century.

To find out more you can browse and view the lots in the exhibition and Private Sale

• either online 
• or view them at Christies's King Street Galleries at 8 King Street St. James 's from 12 April–7 May (12-5pm - including weekends) 

I've been to a number of pre-auction exhibitions at Christies and the galleries and viewing opportunities are excellent.

Our London galleries are now open for public viewing, following government guidelines. Private clients and the wider public are able to visit with other members of their household, and trade clients with their working group. 

By classifying it as a Private Sale, each artwork has a predetermined price - and is NOT up for auction. It enables the buying and selling art outside of the auction calendar i.e. it's as if Christies was a gallery for secondary sales.

The Private Sales includes 52 items by the following graffiti and street artists.

(the number of their artworks in the exhibition is indicated in brackets after their name):

• A-One, (1964-2001) (1) - who's not yet made it on to Wikipedia!
• Banksy (11) - nobody knows who he really is. Except he's English (probably from the west country) and he's a street artist, political activist, and film director who has a company which provides Certificates of what is and is not a genuine Banksy!

Banksy on the Christies website

• Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) (8) an American artist whose themes art focused on dichotomies such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outer experience. 
• Blek Le Rat (B. 1952) (3) a French graffiti artist - one of the first in Paris. He used to stencil rats on walls.
• Keith Haring (1958-1990) (3) an American pop/graffiti artist in the 1980s - he frequently drew on New York subways
• Invader, (b. 1969) (4) - a French urban artist. He is known for his ceramic tile mosaics modeled on the pixelated art of 1970s–1980s 8-bit video games. Also a graduate of the Parisian École des Beaux-Arts
• Kaws, (b.1974) (2) - an American artist and designer whose includes repeated use of a cast of figurative characters and motifs.
• OSGEMEOS, (B. 1974) (2) - identical twin street artists Otavio Pandolfo and Gustavo Pandolfo
• Rammellzee, (1960-2010) (3) New York street artist 
• Kenny Scharf (b. 1958) (5) an American Painter active at the same time as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring,
• Stik, (b. 1979) (4) - a British graffiti artist based in London. He is known for painting large stick figures.

It would be interesting to know who's selling!