Banksy Brexit mural in Dover priced at £1million
13:04, 04 July 2019
updated: 13:56, 04 July 2019
A Brexit themed art piece by a world famous street artist has been valued at £1million.
The Banksy mural on a wall in Dover first appeared in 2017 and was confirmed to be his work via Instagram.
It features a workman climbing a ladder and removing one of the stars from the EU flag.
KMTV spoke to John Brandler about the Banksy artwork
The eye catching piece has been given the seven figure sum evaluation by expert Banksy collector, John Brandler.
Mr Brandler said: "What is reported to be the asking price of £1million is reasonable but I think it could cost you three or four times that to transport it, look after it, preserve it and insure it so its actually in a way a negative value."
Transporting the giant work of art could prove to be a logistical nightmare, roads would need to be closed, police would need to be contacted and keeping it in one piece would be difficult.
The move from its original location at the corner of York Street and Townwall street could also be detrimental to its worth.
Mr Brandler added: "It has extra value being in its correct position so if you bought this piece and moved it away from Dover it would be less significant and less valuable."
Some have interpreted the piece as spreading a positive message about Britain breaking free from the European Union while others have seen it as a sending a negative message about destroying the political partnership.
Despite the enormous price tag that has been slapped on the work another expert said the real value is in what it brings to the port town, including the possibility of opening up a street art museum and the increased number of tourists that stop to see it.
Dover District Council previously agreed to explore options to preserve the piece.
Fine art valuer, David Parker said: "I stood here for 10 minutes on my own getting my thoughts together about it and I must have seen certainly 80 people look at it and 20 people take photos of it. That's in a 10 minute span."
This is not the first time Banksy has hit Kent, another piece of artwork in Folkestone has caused a lot of controversy.
The future of the mural is still uncertain.
Banksy is also thought to be the creator of another piece on the side of a primary school in Maidstone.
