Artist listing : ANDRE, 2RODE, AKTE, ALESSIO-B, ARTISTE OUVRIER, AUREL RUBBISH, BABOU, BANGA, BANKSY, BLADE, BLEK LE RAT, CAP ONE, CES ONE, COPE2, CRASH, CREN, DAZE, FLYING FORTRESS, GHOST, GUM, HONSAR, ICY & SHOT, INDIE184, JEF AEROSOL, JEROME MESNAGER, JONONE, KAWS, KEITH HARING, LASZLO, L’ATLAS, LOR-K, MOZE156, MR. BRAINWASH, NASTY, NICK WALKER, NICOLAS MOREAU, PART ONE, PHILIPPE BONAN, POEM, PRO176, PSYCHOZE, PURE EVIL, QUIK, RD357, RECTO, RNST, SAEIO, SANE2, SEEN, SHEPARD FAIREY, SHUCK2, SONIC, STAY HIGH 149, SUN7, TAKI183, TANC, TKID170, TRACY168, TRANE, YOUSRI, ZENOY, ZEVS

ahahhahaa

1.  Since I don't know whether the We Love You promo box is genuine or fake, it would be great to hear the specific reasons why those commenting on this thread are so certain the box is indeed fake.


2.  Given the accusations which have now been publicly made, Crait + Müller and fryl may wish to offer further details about provenance and previous ownership — as well as due diligence checks made with Wall of Sound / We Love You (including about the edition-of-100 aspect).






[Here's what I myself feel comfortable stating (based on the information available):


(a) While I've never previously seen one of these promo boxes, there are countless other Banksy-related pieces that I'm ignorant of. And so, lack of familiarity would not in itself be reason for me to openly challenge authenticity.

(b) From the auction house's (very low-res) online images, nothing screams "fake" to me. Of course, this doesn't mean the box is genuine; I simply haven't spotted glaring, tell-tale signs of forgery. A point I would focus on is the fact the box is being presented as part of an edition — which is a little inconsistent with what I've seen for other Banksy ephemera from that period.

(c) Notwithstanding at least one typo in the lot description (the incorrect reference to the year 2003), the timeline set out in the rest of that description seems at least credible to my mind.

(d) Different stencils of the early Flower Thrower image were created and used. Minor discrepancies between the image on the promo box and other Flower Thrower pieces are therefore inconclusive as evidence of forgery.

(e) A birthday gift of a Banksy original by Wall of Sound musicians to the DJ Mary Ann Hobbs in 2000 has similarities with the image featured on the box. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to speculate they might have been created around the same time.


]

That is a fair comment.

And you are correct. It was an error on my part to group those four posts together, since they weren't all saying the same thing.

My apologies.

Fair point, I don't really have much grounds for it being fake. Personally I've not seen the 'we [heart] you' emblem coupled with the flower thrower before, however you've published a pic of a genuine gift to the DJ which shows just that. You're right that we ought to be more careful before making such claims, if we don't we're in danger of de-legitimating our position when we have genuine reason for concern. So for people reading this, I suggest doing your own research.

Isn’t that one of the pieces that took the life right out of Sandra Chevrier’s career?

For the risk of opening myself up further...

1. Price: Simply, if this was a genuine 'Banksy' sprayed stencil on cardboard, it wouldn't be advertised at 15 - 20,000 euros. 


2. Authentication: There is no Pest Control COA. PC have issued many COA's for many gift works over the years. If it was genuine, an auction house / owner would definitely go through the trouble of getting this work authenticated purely from a financial standpoint if nothing else.

**Even without a COA, the majority of Banksy editions / releases are very well documented. An edition as large as 100 would surely have much more of a history / provenance trail. 


3. Source: I've seen a few of these pop up in the past on lower end auction house sites all with low valuations, no provenance etc. Something of this quality you would expect to see in a larger, more prestigious auction house. Take a look at the rest of the lots in that auction. 


4. Other factors: Rude Copper is widely recognised as his first attempt at a somewhat numbered 'commercial' release. This would technically pre-date his first 'official' release and that was a heck of a lot rougher around the edges. It's creation literally in the back of a van, poor paper quality, no real continuity in positioning / stamping etc - compared to this almost perfect placement - an edition of 100 no less). 


Of course I could still be wrong (I often am), but this is how I came to my conclusion and it is my personal opinion.


I alter my statement to:

'Yeaaaah fake - in my personal opinion'.

I'm not entirely sure, I've only recently come back from a long hiatus from the forum.

I think the gist of it is she become slightly popular in the scene but then saturated her own market with quantity rather than quality whilst also raising her prices. 

We've all seen this happen many times with many artists, they never seem to fully recover from it.

Both their work is soooo tired. I don’t own any and don’t even try to. Same idea over and over with changes of subject painted on. Same graffiti and superheroes. Yawn.
The only Whatson I though was good was behind the curtain landscape edition.
But as we know a borrowed idea at best.

I like her work, but I agree that it got repetitive, and flooded the market. It's too bad, she's a super nice person IRL.

Hello Pest Control answered :

"This piece is not eligible for a COA as it was not created to be a commercial work of art.
Best 

PCO"


This is an original work of art and not a fake. If so they would have mentionned it.
Thanks. 

Fryl

Does Harland Miller fit in there too? Love his stuff, but same timeline of milking one trick, raising prices... Seeing them come up for sale more and more. He's still hot, but what's next?

Crait + Muller have the fully provenance of this artwork as it is the personn who was in charge of Labels/Virgin Group in France which was the Wall Of Sound/We Love You label distributor.
We have every elements even a signed letter, visit card, name of the Banksy's friend (the label manager from We Love You) who proposed him to work for this label. And the all story behind it.
Thanks.