Photo by Josh Brasted/FilmMagic
Many of Banksy’s most famous works are publicly available, with the secretive British artist painting them on street corners and buildings in the middle of the night across the U.K. Some, however, belong to private collectors who have seen their worth skyrocket over the past two decades.
One such owner, it turns out, is Blink-182‘s Mark Hoppus. The pop-punk bassist is looking to sell his Banksy at auction as a means to purchase new works by up and coming artists. Hoppus and his family will also donate some of the money they raise to wildfire relief in Los Angeles. Auctioneers Sotheby’s suggest bids for “Crude Oil (Vettriano)” could reach as much as $6 million.
Banksy’s 2005 painting was bought by Hoppus in 2011. It comes from a collection in which Banksy riffed on Jack Vettriano’s “The Singing Butler,” taking his image of a couple waltzing on a beach alongside a butler holding an umbrella and replacing the lovers with two people in hazmat suits dancing as an oil tanker sinks in the sea behind them.
Banksy’s ‘Crude Oil (Vettriano)’ from the collection of blink-182’s @markhoppus will headline the Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction at #SothebysLondon on 4 March.
Come see this rare, entirely hand-painted work on view at #SothebysNewYork today through 20 February, before… pic.twitter.com/D0Ih6FExhl
— Sotheby’s (@Sothebys) February 18, 2025
“We loved this painting since the moment we saw it,” Hoppus said. “It’s borne witness to our family over these past dozen years. It hung over the table in London where we ate breakfast and our son did his homework. It hung in our living room in Los Angeles…
“This painting has meant so much to us and been such an amazing part of our lives, and now I’m excited for it to be out there in the world, seen by as many as possible.”
The painting will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in London on March 4. Hoppus’s memoir, Fahrenheit-182, is due to be published in April.
