Power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie splashed £1 million on work by Banksy. The auction catalogue included three new Hirsts, a Basquiat priced at £800,000, and three Andy Warhols. One of the Hirsts was a spot and spin painting entitled: "Beautiful Lazarides Inc Auction Spinny Thingy Where Will It All End, Money For Old Rope, But This You B****r, Its Got Kline Blue Bloody Splashes In It For F***'s Sake, Love You Really Painting (with xxxxx)."The auction at The Shadow Lounge was organised by photographer-turned-gallerist Steve Lazarides, who is largely responsible for making Brit art popular in Hollywood.
Burly security men look on as artwork is loaded up after the sale. This summer he held a sell-out Los Angeles show featuring other Banksies which saw £3.2 million of art sold in two hours. Of last night's auction, he said: "The idea is to inject a little anarchy back on the staid, serious business of buying art.
Heading for Chez 'Brangelina'? A Banksy is taken to the delivery truck. "There is a whole new set of buyers. Whether they're rag trade, City boys or celebrities, they tend to be under 45. "They've got money and they don't particularly want to spend it on a Picasso - they want to buy something that relates to their lives, their time and their culture."
The expensive pieces were unceremoniously carried out into a backstreet and loaded up into a truck ready to be delivered to their new owners.-Dailymail.co.uk
