If i won, and I could afford it it would stay on my wall... Great piece

When putting your name down did you know it was going to cost 40k? If you did then you probably already had intentions of buying?
Do you already own a house? Whether you do or don't, wouldn't you have used the 40K to buy a(nother) house already.
I would compare this to buying a car. If you can afford it and want it, buy it to enjoy it and don't think about cost/depreciation. then again I don't have £40 to blow let alone 40k.

40k house in Bethlehem?
at least 80k easy tho...

I’m interested if you are not , Pm me

Wow.. 40k for that? 😲😮😲😮😵

If it’s not too much of a stretch for you, go for it. If you don’t want to keep it, in a year time it will almost surely make it worthwhile for you at one of the big auction houses: as others have said, Banksy sculptures are a real rarity.

I can see what your saying.  And, please let me clarify.  When I say 'atypical', I mean for the artist.  Don't buy paintings from a sculptor(see Koons, Jeff, Fischer, Urs and many more).  Don't buy ceramics from a painter.  Unless the artist you collect is Sterling Ruby, who has no lane, going out-of-lane is a no-no investment wise. And even then, the market has its preferences for certain types of work.

Banksy, though he has done many, is not primarily known as a sculptor.  His market is driven by flat-things-you-can-hang-on-walls.  So, a sculpture like this will always be, market-wise, a secondary, tertiary, whatever-the-word-that-means-fourth-level-is work.  

40k + VAT/shipping for a fourth-level work?  

Me, personally, if I was advising someone I'd say 'sure thing' only if that person was a multi-millionaire who already had prime Banksy works and they were just looking to go really deep.  Then, the price wouldn't be a concern and the lesser nature of the piece wouldn't be either.  Or, as stated earlier, if I already had a contracted buyer lined up/locked down with COA concerns already worked out, with a good % commission, and was just passing it along.


Edit:  Thanks to google, I now know that fourth-level is 'quaternary'.

I think mose you make a very strong point.

This sculpture works nicely in situ on the hotel wall. However as a standalone piece it is somewhat marmite, and within Banksy's work it is a total oddity.

So as stated unless you are a huge collector, I would not pay 40K for it unless you are abolsutely in love with the piece itself.

Even if you were hard set on paying 40K for a Banksy work, there are many other options to consider, making the opportunity cost of this piece not worth it for a small collector. 

In any case, cool position to be in, and certainly a short term cash opportunity if you want to seize it

I would buy it in an second, a shame I didn‘t get the mail.

mose while I agree that Banksy isn't a sculpture I would argue this isn't outside his lane, unless you're limiting 'his lane' solely to the medium. I think it's very much in his wheelhouse in terms of his political, religious and socio-economic messaging.

I think this piece is much stronger, in terms of message, then most of his prints (what does CYW really say to people?) and while it may be 'marmite', for those of us who believe religion is one of man's most evil creations it speaks quite loudly. I think for Banksy, the subversiveness of this piece is up there with the best of them. I think the Watchtower pieces you alluded to haven't done as well for a couple reason - one, i think many of them were collaborations right? (i could be wrong) and 2 - aside from being much smaller I don't think they carried the same message.

I like the idea that people will be taken aback by the piece - I don't have concerns about the Banksy market, buying anything from primary is a bit of a deal even if prices don't continue increasing exponentially like they have. It's just a liquidity issue, and whether or not I can move everything around in the tight timelines they've given.

Without seeing your financial situation, asking for advice is a bit silly.

For a start, Do you have savings that could cover this, is finding £40k possible, what impact would buying this have on your standard of living, would you need to take out a loan at wonga, can you sell other assets to fund this, would you ever spend this amount on another artist or is the Banksy factor swaying you??? etc, etc.

All of these questions and many more variables would have to be put in the equation before giving a sensible response. This is important because you should only invest what you can afford to lose.

Tricky decision, maybe look at it like what’s a better investment unsigned GWB, NOLA or grappling hook? All similarly priced.

Although the watchtower sculptures traditionally do very poorly at auction...

The price makes no difference. It's all about the secondary market with anything Banksy. Does a secondary market exist for this crucifix dada bling bling symbolist sculture. Yes it does for Banksy sculpture as has been proven with his other sculptures that came up for auction.

Does the fact that this sculpture has religious Christian connotations and reference put off some investors who avoid religious art. I'm sure it will but there again there is a healthy market for Hitler memorabilia. So it all does come down to making a profit and having a market for anything no matter the subject matter as long as there are rich weirdos out there who collect this stuff.

Just take a look at Phillips auction results for modern sculpture, they sold a string of light bulbs for three million dollars. So i'm sure one of these Banksy hooks will be sold in an auction in the near future for a hundred K.

It's all about who you know and being on the inside with these mega rich investors or being an outsider with a certain amount of money and buying into some after estate junk sold by a gallery in an expensive part of London, LA or NY etc etc etc.

If you have 40K kicking about that you can afford to move into something else, there are a few options. I can't see this piece losing money even if it doesn't turn a profit.

Muurrke will no doubt do a review on this piece sometime in the next few moments.