英語時間｜Mystery artist's painting sold for HK$96m【617期】

更新時間：00:00 2022-03-31
發佈時間：00:00 2022-03-31

A painting by the street artist Banksy, whose identity is unknown, was sold for 9.90 million pounds（HK$96 million）at an auction. It has even gone far past the 2-million-pound estimate the painting was valued at.

Created in 2009, it is four metres long and the largest Banksy painting so far. Titled Devolved Parliament（《下放國會》）, the painting at first glance seems to feature a legistlative meeting.

But at a closer look, the members of this legislative body have all been replaced by chimpanzees.

The bidding took 13 minutes, with 10 people trying to buy it.

The mysterious Banksy said on social media,“ A Banksy painting achieved a record in an auction tonight. I can't have it anymore, how embarrassing.”

Citing the art critic Robert Hughes, Banksy added,“ The value of a painting is part of its purpose. Its new mission is to be hung on a wall, increasing its value. It's not like a book which regular people can own. Artworks are the property of those who can afford it.”

G Tips

‘Mysterious’ means ‘hard to know’.
e.g The mysterious Banksy said on social media …

The noun for it, meaning something that is hard to know, is ‘mystery’.
e.g Agatha Christie is famous for writing many mystery novels.

A word with similar meaning can be ‘curious’.
e.g How the jewels got stolen is very curious.

Another word is ‘peculiar’.
e.g The exchange student is quite peculiar.

Vocabulary
auction (n)拍賣
at first glance (phr)第一眼看上來
legislative (adj)立法的
bidding (n)投標
cite (v)引述
critic (n)評論