Banksy’s chimps in Parliament up for auction

A Banksy painting of primates sitting in Britain’s Parliament goes under the hammer this week and is expected to fetch up to $2.5 million.

“Devolved Parliament,” in which chimpanzees replace politicians, measures four meters long, making it the largest known canvas by the secretive British street artist, according to Sotheby’s. With an eye on the 2009 work’s extreme topicality — the House of Commons is witnessing increasingly brutish exchanges over Britain’s EU departure — the auction house has set its estimated price tag at £1.5 million to £2 million ($1.84 million to $2.46 million)

“There’s no doubt that today this image has incredible currency not just here in the U.K. but across Europe and beyond,” said Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art, Europe.

“Here we see this, one of our oldest democracies and within it we see the regression toward tribal animalistic behavior.”

The artwork will be on display at Sotheby’s until it goes under the hammer on Thursday.