The Bataclan Banksy Vanishes After Being Stolen by Two Masked Men

The urban artist left his mark on the emergency door of the Parisian venue as a tribute to those who died in the 2015 terrorist attack. Witnesses saw two masked men cut it out with angle grinders.

A man photographs the vanished graffiti from the Bataclan venue. Photo: Thomas Sampson / AFP / Getty Images. At Japantimes.co.jp

The most famous and unclassifiable urban artist of recent decades, Banksy, is in the news again. If a few weeks ago the graffiti artist once more surprised the world with a “Christmas” mural painted in a garage in Wales (Great Britain), this past Saturday the city of Paris woke to the news of a sad disappearance. The mural painted by Banksy on the metal door of the Bataclan venue, made to honor and remember the victims of the terrorist attack that took the lives of ninety people in 2015, was stolen on the night of 25 January by two masked men. The work was part of a series of murals painted by the mysterious artist in the French capital during June 2019, and depicts a white female figure that stands out against the black enamel of the door. The woman bows her head, covered with a veil, and looks downward in a posture that exudes sadness and despair. Apparently, the thieves cut the door out with an electric angle grinder and carried it off in a van.

Image of the Bataclan venue’s tweet with the Banksy work. Posted by @bataclan_

The works of the famous artist, whose identity is unknown, fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars. On many occasions they have suffered acts of vandalism and theft, something hardly surprising given the prices his graffiti reaches: the aforementioned mural that appeared at the end of last year in Wales (a child contemplating what seem to be snowflakes, when they are in fact ashes from a bonfire) was recently sold by its owner for around 132,000 dollars. The theft of the French graffiti has stirred the indignation of the population, while the spokespeople for the Bataclan venue have made their protest clear on Twitter: “Today we are overwhelmed by a deep feeling of indignation. The work of Banksy, a symbol of reflection that belongs to all of us – residents, Parisians and citizens of the world -, has been taken from us”.

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