Cork born artist Conor Harrington sold his 2013 piece “Dance with the Devil” for $116,413 (£77,500) at Bonham’s Auction in London.

The piece was given a pre-sale estimate of between $45,000 and $75,000 (£30,000- £50,000). It was the first time that Harrington had a piece of art up for auction.

Harrington’s selling piece “Dance with the Devil” is an oil and spray paint piece on stretched linen (above).

The painting is based on a photo shoot arranged by the artist in 2013. Harrington arranged sets and hired actors to create the striking scene.

He told the RTE radio's “Morning Ireland” that “Everything that is in that painting was in a photograph. I got those guys in, they’re both actors, and I dressed them up in costumes and hired all the props that are in the background. Then I took a photo and started the painting process from there.”

The Cork-born Harrington's artwork sold for more than pieces by the internationally renowned artist Banksy. The graffiti star Banksy’s piece, “Rude Copper, a spray painted image of a British bobby making a rude gesture, sold for $48,800 (£32,500), exceeding the estimate of $18,000(£12,000).

Pieces of art by Harrington, who started his career working as a graffiti artist in the mid-1990s, have been bought by celebrity collectors including Alicia Keys, Jared Leto, and Damien Hirst.

Harrington also told “Morning Ireland” that he was shocked at the great news.

“Bonham’s got in touch with me and asked if I was interested in putting a piece into auction so I decided to put that piece in. It’s the first time I’ve done it…I’m new to the auction system. I’ve been working here in London for the last 10 years and it’s always been through galleries and stuff so the whole auction house thing is a very new process for me.

“When they got in touch and said that they'd do a 10 page section in the catalog it seemed very appealing.”

The artist had completed the “Dance with the Devil” in 2013 but held on to it on the advice of a friend.

He said, “Normally most of the paintings that I do are exhibited, but another artist friend of mine advised me that I should hang on to some of my work for the future.” And it paid off.

In a statement Bonham’s added that the Banksy prints, from the collection of Steve Lazarides, a promoter of street art, made $652,829 (£434,600), with 30 of the works selling above their high estimates.

Here's a short video about Harrington's work: