A truck covered in paintings by the famed graffiti artist Banksy is set to head to the auction block later this month and experts believe it could fetch more than $1.7 million.
, the co-founder of a circus touring company called Turbozone offered the 1988 Volvo FL6 truck to Banksy as a āblank canvasā during a party in 1999. The anonymous street artist, who was relatively unknown at the time, spent two weeks painting the vehicleās 80-square metre surface.
After that, the truck spent the next few years travelling throughout Europe and South America as part of the circus companyās Cinderella show, Bonhams said in a press release.
Some of the artwork adorning the truck includes an image of a male figure swinging a hammer towards metal cogs, flying monkeys and red stars with the words ācircusā stenciled across, and a group of soldiers running away from a cannon.
āThe cumulative result is a resounding statement, both a direct call to arms against the establishment and the transformation of a mundane service vehicle into extraordinary work of art,ā the auction house said.
The art-covered truck will go under the hammer at Bonhamās motor car auction in Sussex, England on Sept. 14. The auction house estimated it will go for an estimated $1.7 million to $2.6 million.
