Julien’s Auctions has two major auctions this week!

Wednesday, March 29, 2023, there’s Brace Yourself for Banky: Modern and Contemporary Art.

The highlight of the auction will be the sale of a rare large-scale (8 by 6 feet) painting on canvas by one of the art world’s most talked about figures, Banksy.

The artwork depicts the Grim Reaper (a.k.a Death) buckled into a carnival ride bumper car, across the hood of which is scrawled the caption… “Brace Yourself!”

Banksy created the artwork in 2010 for a local British band known as “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” The group’s name, unfortunately, happened to be the same title Banksy wanted for his about to be released street art film. To avoid any confusion or copyright issues Banksy offered the band an original painting in return for permanently changing their name. As promised, the painting would feature the group’s new name incorporated into a unique composition which they could then use freely to promote themselves. The current work on offer was Banksy’s finished product, depicting Death riding in a bumper car (or a dodgem as they’re known in the UK). The transaction was well publicized in the British press, with articles appearing in The Guardian and The Telegraph. According to the original email correspondence, Banksy humorously offered to paint a smiley face on Death if the band felt the imagery was too dark.

The earliest known examples of Banksy’s “Grim Reaper” motif appeared in 2003 when in his hometown of Bristol, a Reaper stencil painting was executed on the side of a ship used as an underground night club. That same year Banksy designed a stencil featuring the Grim Reaper with a smiley face which was used on placards carried during an anti-war protest in England. Another example of the Reaper with a smiley face was later produced as a limited-edition series of prints in 2005.

The “Harvester of Souls” would appear again in the current work on offer, “Brace Yourself!” which was executed in 2010.

The same imagery, featuring death in a bumper car, would be adapted into a 3D kinetic art installation which drew crowds in New York City during Banksy’s 2013 “Better Out than In” residency. The installation was accompanied by an online audio track in which Banksy was quoted as saying that he wanted to make, “…a piece of art that would last forever, about the importance of living in the moment.”

The 3D bumper car installation was subsequently on display again as part of Banksy’s “Dismaland” project in 2015.

The work currently on offer was exhibited in April 2014 as part of the controversial “Stealing Banksy?” exhibition, and in May through November of 2021 as part of the “Art of Banksy” exhibition.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this rare artwork will go towards benefiting the MusiCares charity organization. MusiCares provides the music community a support system of health and human services across a spectrum of need including physical and mental health, addiction recovery, unforeseen personal emergencies, and disaster relief.

For details about this auction, check the website: juliensauctions.com.

Thursday, March 30, 2023, Julien’s Auction presents The Apples featuring The Hanspeter Luzi Vintage Apple Archive, a spectacular collection of more than 500 lots featuring items “The Hanspeter Luzi Vintage Apple Archive,” one of the world’s most comprehensive collection of Apple computers and products ever offered. More than 500 computers and Apple products spanning over forty years will be offered for the first time at auction.

“The Hanspeter Luzi Vintage Apple Archive” features more than 500 computers and Apple products amassed by renowned Apple collector, Hanspeter Luzi. Luzi, a remedial teacher for children with special needs from St. Gallen, Switzerland, was an educational pioneer, who developed several educational games and teaching aids for the special needs of his students which included the use of computers.

A historian and advocate of his region of Eastern Switzerland, Luzi was also among many things, an outdoors adventurer, hot air balloon pilot, musician and avid of collector of vintage sewing machines, as he was inspired by St. Gallen’s legacy as the textile capital of Europe.

His sewing machine collection was bought by a German textile industrialist and formed the foundation of today’s sewing machine museum – Sammlung Albrecht Mey in Germany. His newfound passion for collecting then turned to Apple computers as a result of volunteering as the IT manager for several schools and equipping their computer rooms with the appropriate devices. He used the many changes of equipment caused by technical developments to buy the old equipment from the schools.

With over 25 years of Apple collecting, Luzi acquired a broad technical knowledge in the handling of hardware, but also in the application of computer programs, a knowledge that he incorporated into two companies he founded with friends, where he worked doing the graphics work. One of the projects was the “Sportmanager,” a manual for the organization of sports events by sports clubs which was then distributed by the Swiss Olympic Committee to more than 35,000 such clubs.

Before his untimely passing in 2015 due to a fatal mountain accident, Luzi was near completion of a book of unknown routes and passes of the most beautiful places in his beloved Eastern Switzerland. The Luzi family wishes to offer this collection of Apple devices produced from 1977 to 2008 to the public for the first time.

For details about this auction, check the website: juliensauctions.com.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact Gayle Anderson at 323-460-5732, email Gayle at Gayle.Anderson@KTLA.com or Tweet / Instagram Gayle at ktlagayle.

This aired on the KTLA 5 News on March 28, 2023.