| By :
Martin Hofschroer
Banksy prints are popular with collectors because work by the artist nearly always increases in value. One collector purchased a "corrupted" oil painting for £700 several years ago that is expected to fetch as much as £500,000 at an auction exhibiting a range of work from Banksy prints to originals, reported the London Evening Standard. The artwork is part of a series of subverted oil paintings and displays a military helicopter, a typical Banksy trademark, stencilled over a tranquil seaside scene. Banksy prints and originals often raise large sums of money well above their estimated prices at auction due to their growing popularity with celebrities, collectors and investors. Reuters reported in 2007 that Banksy's piece 'Bombing Middle England' doubled its estimate at auction and made a record £102,000, while two other works, 'Ballerina with Action Man Parts' and 'Glory' sold for £96,000 and £72,000 respectively. Banksy has receive support from the unlikeliest of groups as the traditionally anti-graffiti Keep Britain Tidy are now backing the Bristolian after previously describing his work as vandalism. The charity changed their opinion on Banksy after graffiti was discovered on a white wall displaying an elderly woman having just finished painting the words 'Keep Britain Tidy'. Phil Barton, Keep Britain Tidy's chief executive, said: "The more common 'tagging' is seen as offensive, blighting the environment and leading to an increased fear of crime but the more community-based art is seen in a different light." Banksy is also fashionable with the general public as over 300,000 people have visited one of his exhibitions in Bristol Museum, which saw some people queuing up to six hours just to get in. James Stevenson told the BBC: "It was well worth the wait, the queues are huge but I suppose it's part of the experience. Banksy is the artist of a generation. His work is amazing but it also has a powerful message about society." Banksy charged Bristol City Council £1 to stage the free exhibition, which raised over £45,000 for the Museum, on the condition that they destroyed all CCTV footage of him preparing the show. Criminals are also fans of Banksy prints as two were stolen in a smash-and-grab raid at a Soho gallery while other work by the urban artist has been illegally removed from a container on a Dungeness beach. The pinched prints were Happy Choppers and Nola (Grey Rain), which are both valued at around the £8,000 mark.
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