Banksy’s Kent Valentine’s Day Mascara offered to the public for £120 a piece

Showpiece, the marketplace for some of the world’s rarest collectables, has announced the latest in its portfolio of artworks and artefacts to enter into fractional ownership: a 2023 mural by world-famous, anonymous and notoriously elusive street artist Banksy. The Valentine’s Day Mascara mural, valued at £6 million, will be made accessible for ordinary members of the public to own a share of – for just £120.

Banksy’s Valentine’s Day Mascara first appeared on a house in Margate, Kent, on Valentine’s Day 2023, and was swiftly confirmed to be genuine via the artist’s Instagram account. The work was removed from the building for preservation earlier this year, however, for many months since, the owner has fought off significant offers from private collectors around the world, resolute that the work should remain in the town it was created, and available to the public to see.

Now, through fractionalisation of the work – open to all – the mural will be able to make its temporary housing, at Dreamland Margate, its official home.                                 

Julian Usher, CEO of Red8 Gallery, which is representing the interests of the original owner of the mural, said: "I'm so pleased that the Banksy work can be hosted at Dreamland, so that it remains in the town for everyone to come and see. The fact that it will be accessible for people to actually own a share in is wonderful - and it also means the mural can now make Margate its official home."

Valentine’s Day Mascara is an incredible example of the way Banksy uses his work to raise awareness around important issues. Depicting a caricature of a 1950s housewife, it shows a woman wearing a blue pinny and yellow washing-up gloves with a swollen eye and a missing tooth, who is seen pushing her male partner into a chest freezer – appearing to be on the theme of domestic abuse and fighting violence against women. To honour this message, Showpiece is working with Refuge, the nation’s largest domestic abuse organisation. 

Aaron Carter, Managing Director of Showpiece, said: “Like many of Banksy's works, Valentine’s Day Mascarahighlights a serious subject matter. We hope that by working with our charity partner, we can continue to promote the work they accomplish and support the causes Banksy is concerned with.”

Banksy is one of the most important street artists in the world, and his true identity has remained the subject of speculation ever since he emerged on the public scene in the late 1990s. Over the past two decades, he has built a reputation for himself as one of the most creative and controversial artists of our time, with his distinctive style that combines elements of humour, irony and political commentary. More often than not, Banksy’s murals appear spontaneously – and each time they do, they continue to astonish and delight the public, outside of the confines of the conventional gallery space.

Love Is In The Bin became the most expensive Banksy artwork, fetching £18.9m in October 2021. Banksy’s iconic non-conformist status has seen him create thought provoking art with the likes of Game Changer (2021) in recognition of front-line workers which sold for £16.8m as well as Sunflowers From Petrol Station (2021), a modern take on Van Gogh’s Sunflower painting which sold for £10.7m.