Directory of Banksy Auction Houses

The Banksy Auction Ecosystem

Banksy's public secondary market operates simultaneously as a high-value market for unique works and as a highly liquid international market for editions. The Banksy Explained databases make that distinction unusually visible. Between 2018 and 2025, they record 2,482 completed public auction sales of prints representing approximately $159.9 million, alongside 202 completed sales of original works representing approximately $308.0 million.

Introduction

Banksy's secondary market is supported by an unusually broad network of auction houses. At one end are Sotheby's, Christie's, Phillips and Bonhams, whose international salerooms handle many of the artist's most valuable paintings and exceptional editions. At the other is a dense network of specialist and regional auctioneers whose repeated sales of signed and unsigned prints provide much of the liquidity upon which the wider Banksy market depends.

The distinction matters. An auction house responsible for a handful of multimillion-dollar paintings may dominate the market by value while accounting for relatively few transactions. A specialist auctioneer selling dozens of editions every year may generate substantially less turnover but exert considerable influence over price discovery. Neither measure alone adequately describes an auction house's importance.

This directory therefore proceeds in two layers. The four global houses are considered first because they operate across several regions and dominate the value of the originals market. The subsequent chapters examine the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, the United States and Japan, where specialist and regional firms play very different roles. The market-share figures are calculated from completed public auction transactions recorded by Banksy Explained between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2025. They do not include bought-in lots and should not be interpreted as sell-through statistics.

Part I — The Global Auction Houses

Sotheby's

City / principal centre

London · New York · Hong Kong

Region

Global

Primary Banksy role

Trophy originals and high-value editions.

2018–2025 database

Originals: 69 sales · $157.9m · 51.3% of recorded global originals turnover.

Website

Sotheby's

Sotheby's has been central to the transformation of Banksy's upper secondary market. In October 2018, Girl with Balloon sold in London for £1.042 million immediately before partially passing through a shredder concealed in its frame. Reconstituted as Love is in the Bin, the work returned to the same saleroom in October 2021 and realised £18.582 million. Between those events, Sotheby's sold Devolved Parliament for £9.8795 million in 2019 and Show Me the Monet for £7.55 million in 2020. The house has also staged dedicated Banksy edition sales, including a 46-lot London auction in March 2021. Its importance lies not only in record prices but in placing Banksy squarely within the international contemporary-art auction establishment.

Christie's

City / principal centre

London · New York · Hong Kong

Region

Global

Primary Banksy role

Upper-end originals and editions.

2018–2025 database

Originals: 35 sales · $79.0m · 25.6% of recorded global originals turnover.

Website

Christie's

Christie's occupies the second major position in Banksy's international auction market. Its defining transaction is Game Changer, donated by Banksy to University Hospital Southampton and sold in London in March 2021 for £16.758 million. Later that year, Sunflowers from Petrol Station realised approximately $14.6 million in New York. Christie's has simultaneously maintained a substantial Prints & Multiples business, giving the house access to both trophy consignments and the more liquid editions market. Its role is particularly important in London, where it bridges collectors of post-war and contemporary art with established print buyers.

Phillips

City / principal centre

London · New York · Hong Kong

Region

Global

Primary Banksy role

Contemporary positioning; higher-value originals and selected editions.

2018–2025 database

Originals: 29 sales · $42.6m · 13.8% of recorded global originals turnover.

Website

Phillips

Phillips' concentration on twentieth- and twenty-first-century art makes Banksy a natural fit within its programme. The house has repeatedly presented the artist alongside established contemporary names rather than isolating him within an urban-art category. Its major transactions include Banksquiat. Boy and Dog in Stop and Search, sold in New York in 2023 for approximately $9.7 million. Phillips is smaller than Sotheby's or Christie's in aggregate Banksy volume, but its activity is disproportionately concentrated in higher-value material and collectors already active in the international contemporary market.

Bonhams

City / principal centre

London · New York · International salerooms

Region

Global

Primary Banksy role

Broad bridge between originals and editions.

2018–2025 database

Originals: 16 sales · $10.0m · 3.2% of recorded global originals turnover.

Website

Bonhams

Bonhams occupies a distinctive position among the global houses because its Banksy activity spans original works, works on paper and a substantial volume of prints. The house participated in the urban-art market well before the spectacular escalation in Banksy prices at the end of the 2010s and has maintained recurring activity through Prints & Multiples and contemporary sales. It does not dominate the record-breaking end of the market, but its sustained transaction volume makes it an important bridge between trophy originals and the more frequently traded editions market.

Regional Weight of the Global Four

The contrast is structural. The Global Four almost monopolise the value of Banksy originals in Britain and the United States, but their position is far less dominant in prints. The editions market leaves substantial room for specialist firms whose influence derives from repetition, liquidity and price discovery rather than from trophy consignments.

Part II — United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is the centre of gravity of Banksy's public print market. Of the 2,482 completed print transactions recorded between 2018 and 2025, 1,942 — more than three quarters — were classified as UK sales. London combines the four international houses with an unusually deep specialist infrastructure. That density explains why the British market is both the most liquid and the most transparent regional market for Banksy editions.

Forum Auctions

City / principal centre

London

Region

United Kingdom

Primary Banksy role

Leading specialist liquidity provider for Banksy editions.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 592 sales · $36.0m · 30.5% of UK transactions · 27.9% of UK print turnover.

Website

Forum Auctions

Forum Auctions is the single largest source of completed Banksy print transactions in the Banksy Explained 2018–2025 database. Its significance lies in repetition and specialisation: the house has staged dedicated Only Banksy auctions and has regularly offered signed and unsigned editions across the full price spectrum. A single 2022 Only Banksy sale included Love Is in the Air, Donuts, Choose Your Weapon, Nola and other established editions; dedicated sales continued through 2024, 2025 and 2026. Forum therefore functions as one of the market's principal price-discovery mechanisms, particularly for standard editions where repeated comparable transactions matter more than isolated record results.

Tate Ward

City / principal centre

London

Region

United Kingdom

Primary Banksy role

Urban & Contemporary specialist; recurring signed and unsigned print sales.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 277 sales · $13.9m · 14.3% of UK transactions · 10.8% of UK print turnover.

Website

Tate Ward

Tate Ward has built a substantial Banksy franchise through its Urban & Contemporary Art sales and private-sale activity. Its auction archive shows repeated offerings of works such as Flying Copper, Laugh Now, Toxic Mary and Trolleys, while its specialist positioning attracts consignments across accessible and middle-market price points. In the Banksy Explained database it ranks second among the independent UK specialists by transaction count, behind Forum Auctions, and is a major contributor to the recurring liquidity of unsigned and signed standard editions.

Chiswick Auctions

City / principal centre

London

Region

United Kingdom

Primary Banksy role

Regional London auctioneer with recurring Modern and Contemporary Banksy editions.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 35 sales · approximately $0.7m · 1.8% of UK transactions.

Website

Chiswick Auctions

Chiswick Auctions is a broad London auction house with specialist departments including twentieth- and twenty-first-century art. Banksy appears periodically within its Modern and Contemporary programme rather than through a dedicated Banksy franchise. Its share of the overall UK market is modest, but the recurring presence of authenticated editions illustrates the breadth of the British secondary market beyond the principal international and urban-art specialists.

Roseberys

City / principal centre

London

Region

United Kingdom

Primary Banksy role

Prints & Multiples specialist with recurring urban and contemporary editions.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 24 sales · approximately $0.6m · 1.2% of UK transactions.

Website

Roseberys

Roseberys has developed a dedicated Prints & Multiples department and regularly handles post-war, contemporary and urban editions. Its 2026 programme included a private collection assembled by a former Pictures on Walls employee, a particularly relevant provenance in the history of Banksy's print market. Although its 2018–2025 Banksy share is smaller than Forum or Tate Ward, Roseberys occupies a credible specialist position in the London editions ecosystem.

Lyon & Turnbull

City / principal centre

Edinburgh · London

Region

United Kingdom

Primary Banksy role

Established UK specialist auctioneer; occasional Banksy editions.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 5 recorded sales · approximately $0.12m.

Website

Lyon & Turnbull

With salerooms and offices in Edinburgh and London, Lyon & Turnbull combines a long-established British auction business with specialist modern and contemporary departments. Banksy represents only a small component of its activity in the Banksy Explained database, but its presence is useful evidence of how widely the artist's editions circulate through the UK auction system outside London-only specialists.

Sworders

City / principal centre

Stansted Mountfitchet · London

Region

United Kingdom

Primary Banksy role

Modern & Contemporary and Prints & Multiples; occasional Banksy editions.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 7 recorded sales · approximately $0.09m.

Website

Sworders

Sworders operates from its principal saleroom at Stansted Mountfitchet with additional London and Hertford locations and maintains departments for Modern & Contemporary Art and Prints & Multiples. Banksy activity is occasional rather than central to the business, but the house belongs to the wider network of established British auctioneers capable of bringing authenticated editions to market.

Other UK Houses in the Database

The database also records Banksy transactions through Anderson & Garland, Great Western Auctions, Gormleys and a small number of other regional firms. These houses are relevant to the completeness of the auction record but do not, on the 2018–2025 evidence, constitute significant independent centres of Banksy liquidity. Dreweatts should be considered in the broader Forum Auctions group context rather than double-counted where sales are recorded under Forum.

Part III — Continental Europe

Continental Europe is materially smaller than Britain in Banksy auction volume but contains several distinct regional centres. France developed an early urban-art auction culture, while Sweden, Switzerland and Germany have provided recurring channels for editions. Across the countries grouped here, the print database records 87 completed sales worth approximately $5.36 million between 2018 and 2025.

Artcurial

City / principal centre

Paris

Region

Continental Europe — France

Primary Banksy role

Leading French auction house; established Urban & Pop Contemporary franchise.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 22 sales · $1.21m · 25.3% of Continental European transactions. Originals: 4 sales · $1.06m.

Website

Artcurial

Artcurial has one of the clearest institutional histories with Banksy in Continental Europe. Founded in 2002, the Paris house developed Street Art and Urban & Pop Contemporary as recognised auction categories and even staged The Banksy Years in 2017. Subsequent Urban & Pop Contemporary sales regularly included authenticated editions, including a Queue Jumping Grey Choose Your Weapon that realised €117,000. In the Banksy Explained 2018–2025 print database Artcurial is the largest Continental European house by transaction count, while its original-work activity gives it a broader Banksy profile than most regional competitors.

Digard

City / principal centre

Paris

Region

Continental Europe — France

Primary Banksy role

Historically important French urban-art specialist.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 15 sales · $0.76m · 17.2% of Continental European transactions. Originals: 4 sales · $1.22m.

Website

Digard

Digard played an important role in the development of the French urban-art auction market and appears repeatedly in Banksy's historical transaction record. Its importance is greater than its current scale alone suggests: the house helped establish a dedicated auction context for street and urban art in Paris at a time when the category was still separating itself from both contemporary-art evening sales and lower-value collectibles.

Bukowskis

City / principal centre

Stockholm

Region

Continental Europe — Sweden

Primary Banksy role

Nordic contemporary-art leader; recurring Banksy editions.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 18 sales · $1.17m · 20.7% of Continental European transactions.

Website

Bukowskis

Bukowskis is one of the most important Nordic auction houses and has repeatedly incorporated Banksy into its Contemporary Art & Design sales. In 2022 it presented a dedicated group of Banksy works including Sale Ends Today, Monkey Queen and Golf Sale, and the artist continues to appear in its contemporary catalogues. The Banksy Explained data places Bukowskis second in Continental Europe by print transaction count, a significant indication of Scandinavian demand.

Koller

City / principal centre

Zurich

Region

Continental Europe — Switzerland

Primary Banksy role

Swiss fine-art auction house; selective higher-value Banksy editions.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 6 sales · approximately $0.55m · 10.3% of Continental European print turnover.

Website

Koller

Koller is a major Swiss fine-art auctioneer whose Banksy activity is selective rather than high-volume. Its six recorded print transactions generated a disproportionately large share of Continental European turnover, suggesting a concentration in higher-value material rather than frequent standard-edition trading.

Karl & Faber

City / principal centre

Munich

Region

Continental Europe — Germany

Primary Banksy role

German modern and contemporary auction house; occasional prints and originals.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 5 sales · approximately $0.06m. Originals: 1 sale · approximately $0.15m.

Website

Karl & Faber

Karl & Faber is an established German auction house with modern and contemporary expertise. Banksy appears only occasionally in the 2018–2025 database, but the presence of both editions and an original transaction illustrates the artist's penetration into the mainstream German contemporary-auction market.

Bruun Rasmussen

City / principal centre

Copenhagen

Region

Continental Europe — Denmark

Primary Banksy role

Major Danish auctioneer; occasional Banksy editions.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 4 sales · approximately $0.08m.

Website

Bruun Rasmussen

Bruun Rasmussen is one of Denmark's best-known auction businesses. Banksy represents a small part of its modern and contemporary activity, yet its inclusion reinforces the broad geographic circulation of authenticated editions across Northern Europe.

Other Continental European Houses

The 2018–2025 database also records Banksy transactions at Cornette de Saint Cyr, Finarte, Capitolium, Dannenberg, Dorotheum, Il Ponte, Meeting Art, Minerva and several other European houses. Individually these firms account for small shares, but collectively they demonstrate that the Continental European market is not confined to Paris. France remains the principal specialist centre, while the Nordic and Swiss markets can generate meaningful higher-value transactions.

Part IV — United States

The United States has a thinner specialist Banksy auction infrastructure than Britain, but a more varied one. The New York operations of Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips dominate the upper end of originals, while online and regional firms account for a large share of print liquidity. The database records 222 completed US print sales worth approximately $11.31 million and 51 original transactions worth approximately $78.32 million between 2018 and 2025.

Heritage Auctions

City / principal centre

Dallas · New York and other US offices

Region

United States

Primary Banksy role

Major US prints and collectibles auctioneer; growing urban-art programme.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 48 sales · $2.45m · 21.6% of US transactions. Originals: 4 sales · $1.10m.

Website

Heritage Auctions

Heritage is one of the most important domestic US participants in Banksy's market. Its archive includes repeated authenticated editions such as Soup Can, Love Rat, Rude Copper, Stop and Search and Banksquiat, and it has developed dedicated Urban Art sales alongside its broader Prints & Multiples business. Between 2018 and 2025 Heritage accounted for more than one-fifth of recorded US Banksy print transactions. Its role has continued to expand: in 2026 it sold a Girl with Balloon diptych from the Matthew Perry estate for $1.1875 million, outside the statistical period of this report but indicative of the house's growing reach into higher-value Banksy material.

Artnet Auctions

City / principal centre

New York · Online

Region

United States

Primary Banksy role

Online-led contemporary and prints platform; leading US print liquidity provider in the database.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 60 sales · $2.71m · 27.0% of US transactions · 24.0% of US print turnover.

Website

Artnet Auctions

Artnet Auctions is the largest US source of completed Banksy print transactions in the 2018–2025 Banksy Explained database. Its online model is particularly well suited to editions, where collectors are comfortable comparing condition, authentication and recent public prices remotely. The platform has handled standard editions and rarer variants, including Girl with Balloon, Barcode, Choose Your Weapon and signed rat images. Its importance is principally one of liquidity rather than trophy-market prestige.

LA Modern

City / principal centre

Los Angeles

Region

United States

Primary Banksy role

West Coast modern, contemporary and design auctioneer; recurring Banksy prints.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 19 sales · $0.42m · 8.6% of US transactions. Originals: 1 recorded sale.

Website

LA Modern

Los Angeles Modern Auctions, now operating within the wider Rago/Wright/LAMA network, has a long-standing focus on modern and contemporary art and design and includes Street Art among its specialist categories. Banksy activity in the 2018–2025 database is concentrated principally in editions. Its share by transaction count is meaningful, although its lower share by value indicates a market centred more on standard prints than exceptional trophy material.

Julien's Auctions

City / principal centre

Los Angeles

Region

United States

Primary Banksy role

Event-driven auction house with unusually strong Banksy original-work volume.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 9 sales · $0.31m. Originals: 16 sales · $4.85m · 31.4% of US original transactions.

Website

Julien's Auctions

Julien's occupies a distinctive position in the American Banksy market. It is not primarily a fine-art auction house in the traditional sense, yet it has handled an unusually large number of Banksy-related original transactions. Its defining event was the 2023 Brace Yourself for Banksy sale in Beverly Hills, where the monumental Brace Yourself! painting realised $2.032 million, more than three times its low estimate. In 2024 Julien's followed with Under Duress: The Banksy Archive of Steve Lazarides, extending its Banksy activity into archival material and objects connected to the artist's early career. Its transaction share in US originals is therefore high even though its aggregate value remains far below the global contemporary houses.

Other US Houses

The database also records Banksy sales through Michaan's, John Moran, Wright and Joshua Kodner, among others. These houses remain peripheral to the national market by volume, but they can occasionally produce meaningful individual results. The US structure is therefore bifurcated: New York's global houses dominate trophy originals, while Artnet, Heritage, LA Modern, Julien's and a long tail of regional firms provide the domestic secondary infrastructure for editions and more idiosyncratic material.

Part V — Japan

Japan is the most distinctive regional Banksy market in the database. Unlike Britain and the United States, where the Global Four retain substantial print-market shares, the 117 Japanese print transactions recorded between 2018 and 2025 were handled overwhelmingly by domestic auction houses. These sales generated approximately $6.29 million in turnover. SBI Art Auction alone accounted for roughly three quarters of both transactions and value.

SBI Art Auction

City / principal centre

Tokyo

Region

Japan

Primary Banksy role

Dominant domestic Japanese venue for Banksy editions.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 88 sales · $4.74m · 75.2% of Japanese transactions · 75.4% of Japanese print turnover. Originals: 1 sale · $0.88m.

Website

SBI Art Auction

SBI Art Auction is by far the most important domestic Japanese participant in Banksy's public market. Its catalogues repeatedly include substantial groups of authenticated editions rather than isolated consignments. Historical sales have featured Happy Chopper, Jack & Jill, Soup Can, Toxic Mary, Applause, Love Is in the Air, CND, Monkey Queen, HMV, Trolleys and numerous other established images. This recurring depth explains SBI's extraordinary three-quarter share of the Japanese Banksy print market in the 2018–2025 database. The house is therefore not simply a regional outlet: it is one of the most important specialist sources of Banksy print liquidity anywhere outside Britain.

Mallet Japan

City / principal centre

Tokyo

Region

Japan

Primary Banksy role

Modern and contemporary art auctioneer; recurring Banksy editions.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 10 sales · $0.56m · 8.5% of Japanese transactions · 8.8% of value.

Website

Mallet Japan

Mallet Japan operates regular modern and contemporary art auctions in Tokyo, combining room sales with its M-Live online format. Banksy appears periodically within this programme, and the house ranks second in the Japanese database by recorded print turnover after SBI. Its role is materially smaller than SBI's but contributes to the depth and competitiveness of the domestic Japanese editions market.

NEW AUCTION

City / principal centre

Tokyo

Region

Japan

Primary Banksy role

New-generation Tokyo contemporary auction platform.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 9 sales · $0.46m · 7.7% of Japanese transactions · 7.3% of value.

Website

NEW AUCTION

NEW AUCTION was launched in Tokyo in 2021 and operates from the Jingumae/Shibuya contemporary-art ecosystem, with auctions held at venues including SAI in Miyashita Park. Its appearance in the Banksy Explained database is therefore relatively recent, yet it already accounts for close to eight percent of recorded Japanese Banksy print transactions during the 2018–2025 period. Its presence is evidence of the continuing diversification of the Japanese contemporary-auction market.

Mainichi Auction

City / principal centre

Tokyo

Region

Japan

Primary Banksy role

Large diversified Japanese auction house; recurring Banksy within Art & Design sales.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 7 sales · $0.39m · 6.0% of Japanese transactions.

Website

Mainichi Auction

Mainichi Auction is one of Japan's major diversified auction businesses, with a programme spanning paintings, prints, sculpture, design, crafts and Asian art. Banksy appears within this broader collecting environment rather than through a dedicated urban-art category; recent Art & Design catalogues have included editions such as Have a Nice Day. Its Banksy share is smaller than SBI's, but Mainichi provides access to a substantial domestic collector base beyond specialist contemporary buyers.

iART

City / principal centre

Tokyo

Region

Japan

Primary Banksy role

Broad Japanese and Western fine-art auction house; occasional Banksy.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 2 recorded sales · approximately $0.03m.

Website

iART

iART operates public auctions from Tokyo's Shimbashi district and handles Japanese, Western and contemporary art. Banksy activity in the 2018–2025 database is limited, so the house should be regarded as an occasional rather than specialist participant. Its inclusion is nevertheless useful in mapping the full breadth of the Japanese auction ecosystem.

Shinwa Auction

City / principal centre

Tokyo

Region

Japan

Primary Banksy role

Established Japanese art auctioneer; occasional Banksy.

2018–2025 database

Prints: 1 recorded sale · approximately $0.12m.

Website

Shinwa Auction

Shinwa is an established Tokyo auction house with a broad fine-art programme and a long domestic history. Only one Banksy print transaction appears in the 2018–2025 database, making its role peripheral to the artist's market during the statistical period, but its presence illustrates how Banksy editions can circulate through mainstream Japanese art auctions as well as contemporary specialists.

Part VI — Other International Markets

The principal directory is deliberately concentrated on the regions where the Banksy Explained databases show sustained auction activity. Other markets nevertheless contribute to the artist's international circulation. Hong Kong is particularly important at the upper end, but its Banksy business is largely conducted through Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips and is therefore covered under the Global Houses rather than duplicated as a separate domestic ecosystem.

What the Directory Reveals

The directory confirms that Banksy's auction market is not a single hierarchy. Originals and prints travel through different institutional channels. Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips dominate the financial value of original works because the trophy market rewards global client networks, evening-sale positioning and the ability to create an international event around a single painting. Bonhams occupies a broader middle position, active in both originals and editions.

Prints are much more distributed. In Britain, Forum Auctions alone accounts for roughly thirty percent of completed transactions, while Tate Ward adds another fourteen percent. In the United States, Artnet and Heritage together represent almost half of recorded print transactions. In Japan, SBI Art Auction is overwhelmingly dominant. These houses matter because repeated transactions generate comparables, expose changes in demand and make the market observable.

The geography is equally revealing. Britain remains the centre of global Banksy print liquidity, but Japan has developed a genuinely autonomous domestic market rather than simply relying on London, New York or Hong Kong. Continental Europe is fragmented but meaningful, with Artcurial, Bukowskis and Digard forming the most visible centres in the 2018–2025 data. The United States combines a concentrated trophy market with a diverse online and regional editions market.

The practical conclusion is that the 'best' auction house for a Banksy depends on the work. A multimillion-dollar original, a rare signed colourway and a standard unsigned edition are not competing for the same auction infrastructure. The strength of Banksy's secondary market lies precisely in the coexistence of these channels.

Methodology & Statistical Notes

The statistical analysis is based on the Banksy Explained print and original auction databases and covers completed public auction transactions dated from 1 January 2018 through 31 December 2025. Print sales are measured using the USD sale-price field in the print database; originals use the USD price field in the originals database. Auction-house spelling variants and branches have been consolidated where appropriate for market-share purposes.

The current databases contain completed sales rather than a complete record of all lots offered. Bought-in, withdrawn and unsold lots are therefore outside the present denominator. Market share means share of recorded completed transactions or recorded turnover, not share of consignments or sell-through.

Regional classification follows the sale-country field in the databases rather than the nationality or headquarters of the auction house. Thus a Sotheby's London sale is classified as UK activity, while a Sotheby's New York sale is US activity. Online sales recorded as UK in the source database remain within the UK denominator.

Selected Source Notes