Banksy street art 'Kissing Coppers' up for auction in Miami

The three pieces by Banksy are owned by a private collector who wants to remain anonymous, said Thut, adding they were not owned by Stephan Keszler, owner of a New York City gallery known for dealing in works by Banksy.

Keszler in 2013 represented the owner of "Slave Labour," a spray-paint image of a young boy kneeling at a sewing machine with Union Jack bunting, which sold for $1.1 million, Keszler said.

"It's new, it's more fun, it's younger, it's more democratic," said Keszler.

Critics say the artworks should not be removed from their original locations, as it takes away from the artist's original intent. "The people who are buying this stuff, chopping it off walls, and putting it in their homes don't realize they only have a piece of the puzzle," said RJ Rushmore, who runs the Philadelphia-based street art blog Vandalog.com.

The auction comes as Miami looks to bolster its image as a global cultural hub. The annual Art Basel Miami Beach in early December, the largest fair in North America, coincided with the opening of Herzog & de Meuron-designed Perez Art Museum Miami on the shores of Biscayne Bay.

Art Wynwood, a contemporary art fair held a short walk away from Miami's fast-rising arts district, hosted more than 30,000 visitors over the long President's Day weekend, browsing works by popular street artists Shepard Fairey and Stinkfish, as well as traditional sculptors and painters, such as Fernando Botero and Wifredo Lam.

The Miami art market suffered a black eye on Sunday when police arrested a local artist accused of destroying a $1 million vase, part of an exhibit by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei at the Perez Art Museum.

Maximo Caminero told police he broke the vase to protest that the museum "only displayed international artists," according to the police report.