The owner of an auction firm planning to sell a Banksy artwork that went missing claims it could fetch up to £1 million when it is sold next month.
But Sincura Group director Tony Baxter claims he is shunning the profits and hopes it will return to the capital. Slave Labour, which depicts a boy at a sewing machine making bunting, vanished from the side of a Poundland store in Wood Green in February, upsetting art lovers.
Mr Baxter said: “I was as enraged as everybody else when I heard it had gone missing but we had the gumption to find answers rather than just talk about it. It took several months and a lot of cash to find answers but we did and now we want to bring the piece back to London.
“The owner has already found a buyer in the USA. We are hoping somebody will buy the painting and perhaps give it back to the community.” It
initially appeared for auction in Miami, but was withdrawn after protests led by Haringey council. The Sincura Group, based in Covent Garden, will put the mural on display at the London Film Museum on June 2. Unless a new buyer is found, it will go across the Atlantic shortly afterwards. Mr Baxter said: “I expect it to sell for a figure far north of £450,000 and I would be surprised if it doesn’t sell for £1 million. But I’m not making any money on this — it is the ethically right thing to do.
“We’ve never been involved with selling Banksy street art before because I’ve always seen it as a gift to the community.” The sale will include other pieces by secretive graffiti artist Banksy, Damien Hirst and Andy Warhol. Mr Baxter added: “We have received all sorts of threats and letters but I am fighting the same cause as Haringey council and everybody else. It’s all good and well to sit around drinking tea and having a conversation but we actually put some effort into locating this painting.”
