Banksy may be an elusive and controversial artist. But let’s face it. Art pieces created by Banksy are in high demand, and they now generally command millions of dollars when they come back on the market. Masterworks.io is the owner of a rare hand-painted oil by Banksy titled Sunflowers from Petrol Station and this painting just came to market with an initial public offering valued at $16.159 million. This sum sounds like a lot on the surface. Then again, other pieces in the realm of modern art have sold for far higher prices.

According to the Masterworks.io data, the annual appreciation of similar works has been 20.5%. That of course comes with no guaranteed profit, and every single investor has heard the phrase “Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.”

Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. This means collectibles are attracting the same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds. In this particular case, collectors and investors both had the same opportunity to buy shares in the initial public offering. This particular Banksy painting is considered quite rare, so it has scarcity that investors like. And with the prices seen on past Banksy paintings, we know there is the demand side of the equation that also plays into the investing thesis.

Sunflowers from Petrol Station is one of five pieces that were exhibited at the artist’s acclaimed “Crude Oils” exhibition in 2005. If this resembles a Van Gogh when you look at it, there is a reason — it is said to be based on Vincent Van Gogh’s iconic Sunflowers. The painting is also shown as an excellent example of Banksy’s satirical wit, even going as far as to sign Banksy in a similar location and style as Vincent Van Gogh on the vase. The oil on canvas measures 41″ x 34″ so it will fit in almost any home for a future buyer who can afford to buy this for a profit down the road. The image below was directly from the Masterworks.io offering.

Concerning past sales of Banksy: since March 2021, two new auction records were set for Banksy’s market when Game Changer (2020) sold for $23,238,686 on March 23, 2021, and was surpassed 7 months later by Love is in the Bin (2018), which sold for $25,400,000 on October 15, 2021 – 3 years after it shockingly (or partially) self-destructed during an auction.

Banksy first disrupted the high-end London art scene in 2003 with his inaugural exhibition “Turf War.” He followed the debut by sneaking his own works into major institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Tate Britain. A unique paper version of his iconic image “Girl With Balloon” was offered for sale at Sotheby’s in London selling for an impressive $1,364,668 in 2018.

According to Masterworks, this particular painting was acquired directly from the “Crude Oils” exhibition by fashion designer and art collector Sir Paul Smith. His collection includes works by Alberto Giacommetti, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. Masterworks further noted:

Unique, hand painted works by the artist are among his most rare and expensive pieces, and as of January 26, 2022 account for seven of the artist’s top ten sales at auction.

As of January, 2022, only two other hand painted pieces from the “Crude Oils” exhibition have been offered for sale at auction. Sotheby’s previously offered “Show Me the Monet” in London back in October of 2020 with a satirical take of Claude Monet’s acclaimed waterlilies. That then became the second most expensive work by the artist with a conversion price of almost $9.95 million at the time.

As for the work “Tesco Value Soup Can,” it has sold twice. The first sale was in October of 2008 at Bonhams in London for the equivalent of $158,024; and it sold again in October of 2017 at Sotheby’s in London for the equivalent of $515,743.

By the time you read this it seems that this particular Banksy IPO will be 100% funded and closed to investors. Now the art world has to just wait to see how high a future buyer will pay up for this piece in the future.