blink-182 singer-bassist Mark Hoppus is selling a prized Banksy painting at auction, with plans to donate a portion of the proceeds to various charities.
The 2005 Banksy piece titled “Crude Oil (Vettriano)” is set to hit the block on March 4th in London, headlining Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction. Before that, the painting will be on view via a preview exhibition from February 26th up until the auction date.
The rare, entirely hand-painted work was acquired by Hoppus and his wife Skye in 2011.
“We loved this painting since the moment we saw it,” Mark said via a press release. “Unmistakably Banksy, but different. We bought it because we loved it. It’s borne witness to our family over these past dozen years. It hung over the table in London where we ate breakfast and our son did his homework. It hung in our living room in Los Angeles. It’s seen laughter and tears and parties and arguments. Our son has grown up in front of it.”
Hoppus added, “This painting has meant so much to us and been such an amazing part of our lives, and now I’m excited for it to be out there in the world, seen by as many as possible. Go get ‘em. Godspeed.”
Sotheby’s estimates that the painting could fetch anywhere between $3.8 and $6.3 million — and Mark and Skye plan to donate part of the proceeds to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and their Child Life Program, Cedars Sinai Haematology Oncology Research, and the California Fire Foundation.
The couple also plans to use some of the profits to buy artwork from up-and-coming artists.
“Coming back to punk rock, one aspect of the community I always hold dear is, if you get lucky enough to gain success, you bring your friends with you,” Mark said. “Larger bands bring smaller bands on tour. We support one another from within. I want to take some of the money from the sale of this painting and use it to buy works from younger, upcoming artists. We were lucky enough to find ‘Crude Oil (Vettriano)’ in our lives, and it’ll help us support more art and artists. I want to be a f***ing Medici.”
News of the auction came as Hoppus announced a book tour for his upcoming memoir Fahrenheit-182, out April 8th (pre-order here). The punk vet will begin the tour the day after on April 9th in New York City, with an artist pre-sale and Live Nation pre-sale currently underway via Ticketmaster using the code MARKRULES or DUET.