Devolved Parliament is a 2009 oil-on-canvas painting by Banksy, replacing British politicians debating in the House of Commons with chimpanzees. In 2019, the artwork became Banksy's most costly to date, selling for £9.9 million ($12.2 million) at Sotheby's in London on October 3, 2019.

The work measures . It was titled Question Time when first shown at the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery's 2009 Banksy show. It was sold to a private collector in 2011. A reworked and retitled version of the painting was exhibited in Bristol in March 2019, with changes to details such as a banana and some lamps. Banksy commented, "Laugh now, but one day no-one will be in charge".

Devolved Parliament (Banksy)

The depiction of chimpanzees echoes Banksy's 2002 work Laugh Now, a 6-foot-long stencilled work showing a row of apes wearing aprons with the inscription "Laugh now, but one day we'll be in charge", and the similar Keep it Real. Chimpanzees are a theme that has occurred throughout Banksy's oeuvre, as a satirical device in the tradition of the singerie that depicts monkeys imitating human behavior. Examples include his Self-Portrait (2000} which shows a person holding spray cans but with a chimpanzee's head, and Monkey Queen (2003) based on a portrait of Elizabeth II with a chimpanzee's face.

Devolved Parliament (Banksy)

See also

List of works by Banksy

List of most expensive artworks by living artists

References

2009 paintings

Chimpanzees in art

Political art

Works by Banksy

Devolved Parliament (Banksy)