By Filipa Gaspar via SWNS
A famous Banksy created nearly 20 years ago on the side of a sexual health clinic is set to be sold along with the building it’s painted on.
Banksy’s artwork in Bristol “Well Hung Lover” is up for sale next year.
The artwork located at Unity Street features a naked man hanging from a window as he hides from a man searching for him, with a woman in her underwear looks on.
It was painted by Banksy in the summer of 2006 and is now the most commonly visited Banksy in Bristol.
At the time of creation, the artwork was stenciled on the side wall of Brook Sexual Health Clinic on Frogmore Street which has since relocated.
Banksy was reportedly unaware that the building was a sexual health clinic, and found humor in the irony when they were told via email.
Estate agent Hollis Morgan is preparing to sell the building with a new 250-year lease at an auction on February 12.
The owners selling it are going to ensure the painting is not bought by someone who wants to remove it and sell it on separately.
The building is a listed as a Grade II leasehold Georgian terraced property with
accommodation over five floors – with an auction guide price of £700,000.
Hollis Morgan said whoever bought it would have to agree to a restrictive covenant in the lease stating that it must never been removed.
It stated: “There is no official Bristol City Council policy with regard to street art, whether by Banksy or others, as it is recognized that street art is created not as a permanent work of art but as a form of protest which is usually, but not always, created illegally and without the permission of the owner of the building,”
“As such, the life of any image as a work of art will evolve and change over time depending on how the work weathers or indeed is subsequently painted over or removed.
“Accordingly the purchaser will be required to accept a restrictive covenant in the lease ensuring that the image cannot be removed from the building, however, the vendor will not require a positive obligation on the purchaser to maintain the artwork or insure it for as long as it shall remain visible and in place on the building,” they added.
