An original work by Banksy that was painted over by a property owner is up for sale for £700,000 after being saved by art conservationists.
The famous street artist spray-painted Apache attack helicopters with pink bows on them on the outside wall of an office building in Holywell Row, Shoreditch, east London, in 2006.
He signed the work, called Holywell Row Happy Helicopters, which was later officially documented in the seminel book Banksy Captured.
But the former owner of the building became fed up with a security light being constantly activated by Banksy fans turning up to view it.
So he had it covered over in black paint and when he sold the premises to the current owner in 2007 he failed to mention the hidden Banksy.
It was only when the new owner was thumbing through another book on Banksy’s art that he saw a photo of it on the very building he owned.
The 3ins thick wall render was removed in eight rectangular sections
Credit: BNPS
He rushed outside and could just about make out a part of a helicopter propeller that hadn’t been painted over.
The vendor, who is not being named, commissioned a fine art conservator who is more used to restoring Old Master paintings to salvage the Banksy.
The layer of black paint and additional graffiti was tested so a bespoke cleaning solution could be made to strip it off without harming the art work underneath.
The 3ins thick wall render was then carefully removed in eight rectangular sections and taken away.
After a year of conservation work, the work has been turned into a 6ft by 4ft mural, which has been framed.
It is coming up for auction with Anderson & Garland of Newcastle for £500,000 to £700,000.
Holywell Row in Shoreditch, east London where Banksy spray-painted a wall in 2006
Credit: BNPS
The vendor, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “We were astounded to discover that our office building was the canvas for an artwork of this significance, and what was more, it had been painted over by the previous owner.
“We wanted to ensure the integrity of the piece so approached restoration specialists to find the best way of preserving it for generations to come.
“To our knowledge no one had attempted to rescue a fragile work of high-profile street art like this before. As the piece had been painted on render, after several abortive attempts, the decision was made to remove it in sections by specialists.”
Conservation took a year
Chris Bull, of The Fine Art Restoration Company that worked on the project said: “The conservation of Happy Choppers took over a year to complete.
“Previous overpaint and localised graffiti was also removed without disturbing Banky’s original stencil.
“As these murals do not use a medium traditionally found in art, our conservators investigated the chemistry of the original pigments and developed new techniques suitable for the safe treatment of aerosol art.
“One of the many difficulties we had was that the work had been sprayed on render and structurally could not be removed in one piece due to the likely risk of it breaking apart.
“The decision had to be taken for it to be removed in sections.”
Expecting worldwide interest
Fred Wyrley-Birch, director at Anderson & Garland, said: “We are delighted to be able to offer an original and unique work by the elusive artist Banksy.
“We are expecting interest from around the world. We are hoping that institutions will be interested in this important piece so that enthusiasts of Banksy’s work can enjoy it for years to come.
“Previously, works like this have been purchased by private individuals and gone into travelling exhibitions.”
The Banksy mural will be sold on March 20.