(The Guardian’s video above seems to confirm that the owner is the seller in Miami)
The Financial Times looks into the Banksy mural on offer in a Miami auction and gets this non-denial confirmation about who might be selling the work:
Wood Green Investments, the property company which owns the Poundland shop unit, has remained silent throughout the dispute.
“If they deny removing the mural then they will become embroiled in an international criminal investigation that has already involved the FBI, but if they admit to consenting to [its removal] then they will become the target of abuse,” said their solicitor. “As a consequence, the advice to my client has been to say nothing.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they had received “an enquiry from US authorities” regarding ownership of the art work. “We have advised the US authorities there are no reports of theft,” a spokesman said. The auction house said it had done “all the necessary due diligence about the ownership of the work”, and would only halt the sale if authorities could prove it was taken illegally. […]
The Department for Media, Culture and Sport told the Financial Times that “the government has no powers to intervene in this matter which, on the face of it, appears to be a lawful and legitimate sale.”
Missing Art Sets Off International Probe (Financial Times)
