Banksy’s ‘Trolley Hunters’ Painting Might Break Another Art World Record

Is this the next Banksy painting to break an art world record? "Trolley Hunters" is going up for auction at Sotheby's in New York on November 18.

It was created in 2005 and depicts tribal men pointing spears at shopping carts. 

"At the time, it was painted as an indictment of consumer culture and as an expression of how far we have come as human beings from our original human spirit," Alex Branczik from Sotheby's said.

The famed auction house estimates it will sell between five and seven million dollars, but their last estimate of a Banksy piece was blown out of the water.

Sotheby's made a similar estimate with Banksy's "Love is in the Bin," the infamous half-shredded "Girl With Balloon" painting. The auction house thought it would sell for up to eight million dollars, but when the gavel came down on it last month, it was sold for over $25 million, the highest price for a Banksy yet. 

"I think it's a shock for Banksy himself that his works have become so valuable," Branczik noted. "And I think as an artist, he does give much of his own proceeds away to charities and makes a lot of great gestures around the world."

"So I think for him, that certainly would be the case. But you'd have to ask him. I can't speak on his behalf." 

But all this money being spent on Banksy's art proves that the message of "Trolley Hunters" is still relevant today.

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