Banksy Wall Mural Sells for £208,100 on Ebay

A London wall adorned with a mural by graffiti artist Banksy today sold on EBay Inc's Web site for 208,100 pounds ($407,000).

The buyer will need to pay for the additional cost of removing the 15-foot-wide mural, which shows the figure of a traditional painter finishing the real artist's name.

``I advise you seek your own costing for this but shouldn't cost more than 5,000 pounds,'' said the seller on the Web site.

``I know this Banksy,'' said London specialist graffiti art dealer Mike Snelle, of Black Rat Press. He named the seller as Luti Fagbenle, who runs a post-production company in Portobello Road. ``The price is crazy. And it's going to be a nightmare to take off the wall. After this result a lot more people are going to be tempted to sell Banksy murals,'' said Snelle.

Bobby Read, art expert at specialist insurer Hiscox, said: "Banksy is a maverick as well as a hugely talented artist. It's an intoxicating combination for buyers as this price shows.

"The Portobello Road wall is a special piece and probably the largest piece of Banksy art work to have been sold at a public auction.

"This sale poses many interesting questions for the art world. How do you move a piece of work like this, how do you display it and how do you insure it?"

Included on the auction page was a description of how Banksy managed to paint the picture without being discovered.