Proceeds from an auction of Liverpool’s famous Banksy painting are to go to local charities in the city.
The painting, named ‘Liverpool Rat’, was removed in summer 2012 when owners of Ascot Property Group said that there was “good news” about the Banksy rat that would be revealed soon.
It has now been confirmed that the Banksy painting was restored and is now set to be auctioned in London in April this year.
The Liverpol Rat will be auctioned by the Sincura Group along with 12 other Banksy pictures that will be revealed on the night of the exhibition. The ‘Stealing Banksy?’ exhibition is part of a project exploring the social, legal and moral issues surrounding the sale of street art.
Tony Baxter, one of the directors of the Sincura Group, told JMU Journalism: “We’re really happy to be hosting the auction. The Liverpool Rat has eroded considerably over the past 10 years; give it another 10 years and it would have been gone.”
The rat was painted on the side of Liverpool’s former Whitehouse Pub, on the corner of Berry Street and Duke Street, of which the plaster was removed by specialist restorers and put into storage where it was preserved and pieced back together.
The building had been eroding for the past few years with large parts having peeled off with the plaster or vanished on rotted wood.
Baxter continued: “Because parts of the painting have been ruined whilst taking it off, the Liverpool Rat is essentially being sold as a project of restoration. It’s sad but because proceeds will be helping local charities in Liverpool, it’s a lesser of two evils.”
The funds from the sold piece will be donated to local children charities in Liverpool. The event will take place on 24th and 27th April 2014 at the Me Hotel in London and is open to everyone.