Banksy, an artist known for his unconventional art and whose identity remains to be unknown, painted a door in Gaza and the family who owns the painted part of their home were tricked into selling the piece of art for only US$175.
According to Gawker, the British artist visited the region back in February and painted a series of artworks in different parts of the area. The artwork that was painted on the door of the home in Gaza was a crying goddess called Niobe.
Rabie Darduna, the man who owns the home that has already been destroyed, said that he was tricked into selling the artwork for such a small amount and it's of a really low price because artworks of Banksy usually gets around five or six figures in different auctions. The home of Darduna was one of the 18,000 homes destroyed last year during the war with Israel. Darduna shared that their house was a two-storey building and the door was the only part left standing then a foreign man, Banksy, decided to paint on it.
Darduna added that the people who came and bought the artwork insisted that they were part of the team of Banksy and they wanted to retrieve the painting as they would display it in a museum in Gaza. The man pointed out that they made him sign a paper and he was pressured into selling it since he really needed the money.
According to BBC, the spokesman for Banksy said in a statement that the artist believes the door should be returned to the family. BBC also contacted the buyer of the artwork and noted that it was purchased legally and refused to give further comments.
Just this Wednesday, rumors circulated that the door was returned to the family but the buyer posted a photo on his social networking account that the door is still in his possession.
Aside from the painting of the crying goddess, Banksy also painted a cat that had a pink ribbon on it while playing with a ball of distorted metal. Another is a painting of children swinging from an Israeli watchtower. In one of the walls, Banksy also wrote a statement that says if people wash their hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, people are siding with the powerful.