Building with forgotten Banksy on outside wall hits the market in £750,000 auction

A Bristol building that features a forgotten Banksy artwork is set to go under the hammer next month.

The early mural by the famously anonymous artist is titled The Mild Mild West and is painted onto a large portion of the left side of an “investment building”, which is made up of rental houses and vacant shops.

It was unveiled following a 1999 incident that saw riot police use violence against warehouse partygoers at an event on Winterstoke Road.

The artwork, which sees a bear throwing a Molotov cocktail at police in response, is situated near the city centre and will be auctioned November 20.

Jim Paine, who owned the record shop next door, claims to have encouraged Bristol-born Banksy to create the work. “We did it in daylight, over three days. I held the ladder for him and kept lookout,” he said in Banksy’s Bristol.

“The first day, he painted the wall black. Banksy used car paints – he had a deal with a guy who ran an auto shop. The next day he put the teddy bear in, and then the police.

“We did the cops last thing that day because that was the most provocative part. The third day, I think, he did the lettering.

“He wasn’t happy with the coppers after doing his first draft, and if you look closely, you’ll see he’s adjusted the outlines of the policemen. Banksy’s a perfectionist.

open image in gallery

“I love the way the teddy looks slightly wobbly, slightly ungainly… he looks kinda docile. It’s a simple piece, but there’s so much to read into it.”

Auctioneer Hollis Morgan said they expect “enormous interest [in the property], certainly in this part of the world, because he’s a local boy”.

Andrew Morgan, director and auctioneer, said: “It might be one of those situations where you buy a Banksy, and you get an investment property thrown in. Or it could be that somebody looks at it as a pure economic sum and has the Banksy as a bonus. We won’t really know.”

The auction, which has given the property a guide price of £750,000, was described as the “right route” to sell the building because it has an “unknown value”.

With a potential rental yield of £77,000 a year, the property is made up of two four-bedroom, HMO-licensed maisonettes that were previously rented for £2,750pcm and £3,000pcm, as well as a barber shop.

open image in gallery

The building was last sold for £55,000 in 2000, after the Banksy had been created, at which point it was abandoned and boarded up.

“People have paid absurd sums for properties [with Banksy murals], and people have been known to demolish walls to acquire one that way. It’s even conceivable that that sort of thing might happen,” Mr Morgan said.

“I suppose the Banksy is a bonus in this particular instance, but it’s quite conceivable that someone would pay an absolute premium in order to own one.”

Banksy artworks typically sell for around six figures, but there have been instances where they have fetched more.

A block of flats in Finsbury Park that acquired a mural of a tree by Banksy earlier this year are now estimated to be worth £1.3m by their owner, who purchased them for £400,000 in 2012.