Banksy's LA Gas Station Art Goes for $209K

In 2008, a Los Angeles gas station owner told some street artists they could paint on his wall; now, the Banksy painting—called "Flower Girl"—has sold at auction for $209,000. The 9-foot by 8-foot image features a child with a flower basket being watched by a surveillance camera, the Los Angeles Times reports. The story behind the painting: Eytan Rosenberg, who has since sold the gas station, long knew LA street artist Mr. Brainwash. One day, Mr. Brainwash, along with two other men, asked Rosenberg if they could paint on the station, and he agreed.

One of those men, Rosenberg believes, was the secretive British artist Banksy. Rosenberg can't quite remember his face, but "I remember he was wearing a black hoodie and jeans that were covered with black and white paint, and he had paint under his fingernails," he tells the Times. After Rosenberg and his sister sold the gas station last year, the new owners agreed to let him take away the section of wall containing the painting. Now that it has sold to anonymous buyer, Rosenberg wants to use the cash to build a car wash. "I hope whoever gets (the painting) takes care of it," he says. (More Banksy stories.)