Early Banksy artworks sourced from his and Paul Fraser Collectibles' home town of Bristol, UK, are coming to auction in Los Angeles later in the year.
The artist honed his stencil-based skills on the streets of Bristol, before heading on to global domination. Yet he also produced a number of canvas works while living in the city.
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It is these that will appear at Bonhams' first Los Angeles urban sale, which will take place on October 29.
Alan Montgomery, an urban art specialist from the auction house's contemporary art department, comments: "The market for Banksy is flourishing. It is very encouraging to see people coming forward with extraordinary pieces that have been in their collection since his early exhibitions in Bristol.
"This area has a fantastic wealth of the artist's works which collectors bought for relatively low amounts of money in the early days of his career, but which now fetch incredible prices at auction.
"We are noticing a growing international following for urban art and especially for works by Banksy, with a number of big-name Hollywood collectors."
Banksy's Winnie the Pooh, estimated at $50,000-80,000, will headline the auction, while his Precision Bombing and Lenin on Rollerblades are expected to make up to $45,000 and $50,000, respectively.
Such is the fervour surrounding Banksy, however, and the interest in works from his formative years, we anticipate these works could achieve considerably more.
Earlier this year a Banksy canvas, Leopard and Barcode, sold for £75,650 ($120,840) at Bonhams in London.
The world record for a Banksy piece is $1.9m, achieved for Keep It Spotless, a mural which first appeared in London and sold at Sotheby's New York in 2008.
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