Photo: Via the Sydney Morning Herald.
Think you're having a bad day? How about a bit of schadenfreunde to perk you up...
A man from Melbourne returned home yesterday to find that his father-in-law had painted over the rare and pricey Banksy artworks stencilled on the outside of his home.
The walls had been decorated by two Banksy stencils, one of a girl hugging a bomb and one of a rat, and both had been left by the British street artist during a secret visit to Melbourne a decade ago.
The father-in-law in question was apparently unaware of the graffiti's significance when he applied the fresh coat of paint, and managed to wipe out several other stencils by prominent artists, including a portrait of Keith Haring by San Francisco artist Peat Wollaeger, the
Sydney Morning Herald
reported.
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Melbourne has had plenty of trouble hanging on to the trail of artworks created during Banksy's visit to the city. Last year construction workers accidentally destroyed an image of a parachuting rat while working on a cafe, and in 2010, another Banksy rat was removed by council cleaners who were sent to clean up the walls.
Banksy's artworks have been known to sell for more than $1 million, so we can only imagine the how the conversation between son-in-law and father-in-law panned out (it sounds like the son-in-law's spouse sensibly kept out of the situation). But while it's a terrible thing for public art to get obliterated in this way, it's also a little depressing to think of it sold for mega bucks at auction only to be kept behind closed doors.
Let's hope that the good people of Melbourne will start give a little more TLC to their street art scene from now on.