LONDON — Last October, in an elaborate prank orchestrated by the street artist Banksy, one of the artist’s paintings self-destructed in front of auctiongoers in London, moments after it had been sold for $1.4 million. Fast-forward to October 3, 2019, and his Parliament-bashing painting of a chimpanzee-filled House of Commons generated more hullabaloo, selling for $12.2 million to an unidentified phone bidder at Sotheby’s London, smashing the artist’s auction record.

The monumental canvas, which made headlines around the world even before its appearance in the London galleries, sparked a 13-minute bidding battle on the phones and in the room.

Alongside the Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s electric 1984 canvas “Pyro” also achieved $12.2 million, confirming the appetite of collectors eager to secure a piece of Pop art history. The spirited work was followed by Basquiat’s “Natives Carrying Things,” that achieved $4 million. All prices quoted have been converted from British pounds to US dollars and include the buyer’s premium for each lot sold, as stated by the auction house.