Banksy Painting Sells, Notting Hill Wall Included

A work by Banksy, the faceless London artist who has entangled the city’s residents in a high-brow game of Cat and Mouse, just sold on eBay for nearly $400,000.

Buying the piece—one of the artist's typical graffiti numbers, this one depicts an artist in an old-fashioned getup putting the finishing touches on the word “BANKSY”—may prove to be the easy part. The work adorns a wall on Portobello Road in London’s bohemian-chic Notting Hill neighborhood.

“I am selling the wall because I can't really justify owning a piece of art worth as much as it is,” said Luti Fagbenle, the owner of the property on which the graffiti is sprayed. He also said that the artist had set up scaffolding in front of the wall on a busy Sunday morning, so he could complete the work without being seen.

“A few hours later the scaffolding went down. And there it was,” Mr. Fagbenle added.

After it was initially offered for £208,100, the piece attracted 69 bids in total. Whoever purchased the painting will reportedly be responsible for replacing the wall if removing the work is part of their plan. The enigmatic artist has collected a coterie of famous fans. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt picked up a Banksy painting in 2006 for some £200,000.