An artsy Bristol property featuring Banksy’s iconic Well Hung Lover mural is going to the auction block, offering a win-win of sorts in a single sale of art and real estate. Painted in 2006, the mural shows a man leaping out of a window to avoid his lover’s rival. Coincidentally, the artwork now hangs on the wall of a sexual health clinic — something Banksy says he was unaware of at the time.
The five-storey, Grade II-listed Georgian building on a site adjacent to Bristol Cathedral and the University of Bristol has a basement nightclub. It is being sold through the real estate agency Hollis Morgan, with a guide price of just under $900,000. The property has a new 250-year lease and could be converted into student housing.
Though it was connected to the elusive street artist, the fate of the mural is unclear. Bristol City Council does not hold a formal policy over whether to preserve street art, regardless of who is behind it. Hollis Morgan observed that street art is inherently ephemeral, changing with the seasons and the weather or covered up by a fresh coat of paint or removed entirely.
But buyers will not receive a separate profit from the mural. A restrictive covenant contained in the lease forbids the removal of the artwork, though it does not require the new owner to maintain or insure it.
Banksy’s pieces have sold for eye-watering sums, including his Love is in the Bin, which sold for more than $23.5 million. Though this property presents a rare opportunity to own a piece of his legacy, its auction price may also highlight the complicated ways in which street art can be valued beside real estate.
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