Banksy's Show Me The Monet expected to fetch up to £5m at London auction

Piece is set to become one of the street artist’s most expensive works

An oil painting by popular street artist Banksy went on show in London today (18 September) ahead of a livestream auction.

The piece, titled Show Me the Monet, is expected to sell for up to £5m.

Banksy originally created the painting in 2005 as a counterpoint to Claude Monet’s famous work Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lillies.

In it, the famously political artist adorns a recreation of Monet’s scene with shopping trollies and traffic cones.

The work is to be displayed publically in Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries until tomorrow (19 September) before moving to New York and Hong Kong for further exhibition.

Banksy's 'Show Me the Monet' is about to go on auction for up to £5m (Getty Images for Sotheby's)

After this, the painting will return to London to be sold, with a guide price set at £3m to £5m at the Modernités/Contemporary auction.

Last year, Banksy’s Devolved Parliament artwork – which depicted British politicians as chimpanzees – was purchased for a staggering £9.9m.

Banksy’s identity has remained a secret throughout his success, with speculation rife as to the artist’s real name.

A recent internet rumour suggested that Banksy was none other than former Art Attack host Neil Buchanan.

Such was the intensity of the theory that Buchanan issued a statement on his website officially denying he was the hit underground artist behind Girl with Balloon.