Banksy Mock-Up Gets R100m

A rare painting by street artist Banksy which reimagines Jack Vettriano's famous The Singing Butler sold for nearly £4.3 million (about R100 million) at an auction in London, Sotheby's said on Tuesday.

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The sale of Banksy's Crude Oil (Vettriano) comes a day after the death of Scottish painter Vettriano, 73, was announced.

Vettriano's Singing Butler depicts a couple in evening dress dancing on a wind-swept beach accompanied by a butler and a maid holding umbrellas.

It set a Scottish record when it was sold at auction in 2004 for £744,800.

It became the UK's best-selling print reproduction, outselling Monet and Van Gogh and inspiring Banksy to subvert its romantic narrative for his own painting.