The Hong Kong Phooey mosaic removed from our streets by the government has fetched just short of a cool HKD2 million at auction.
The tribute to the cartoon dog, who is himself a tribute to Bruce Lee, appeared on (and was subsequently removed from) a wall in Happy Valley last year after renowned French street artist Invader paid our city a visit.
Although the original piece was unacceptably destroyed, a reproduction by Invader sold for HKD1.96 million, smashing its expected sale price of HKD236,000, at a Sotheby’s contemporary art auction last night.
The lucky new owner is a European collector, who clearly appreciates awesome art when he sees it.
The piece was one of 75 Invader kindly bestowed on Hong Kong’s streets in January last year.
The majority were removed by the government, much to the dismay of the public and the artist himself.
Invader said he had never seen his work removed with such vigour in any of the 60 cities he had previously invaded.
Well, at least we’re memorable for something.
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Invader street art destroyed by Hong Kong government expected to fetch HKD1m at auction
