From Euphoria to Equilibrium
The market for Banksy originals occupies a unique position within the contemporary art landscape. Unlike the artist’s print market, which benefits from a broad collector base and substantial transaction volume, original works remain exceptionally scarce, fiercely contested, and highly dependent on the appearance of museum-calibre masterpieces. Between 2018 and 2025, this market experienced one of the most dramatic cycles seen in contemporary art, progressing from steady growth to speculative euphoria, reaching an unprecedented peak during the post-pandemic boom of 2021, before entering a period of correction and eventual stabilization. Yet a closer examination of the data reveals a far more nuanced reality than headline figures alone might suggest. While turnover has retreated sharply from its extraordinary highs, demand for significant works remains remarkably resilient, supported by Banksy’s enduring cultural relevance, the increasing institutional recognition of his oeuvre, and the continuing scarcity of major originals available for acquisition. This report examines the evolution of the Banksy originals market from 2018 through 2025, analysing turnover, pricing, liquidity, and collector behavior to better understand where the market has come from, where it stands today, and what it may signal for the future.
Select a year to jump to its results below.
Between 2018 and 2025, the Banksy originals market evolved from a rapidly strengthening specialist segment into one of the most visible high-value categories in contemporary art, before correcting sharply after the extraordinary 2021 peak. Turnover rose from approximately $9.8 million in 2018 to $20.7 million in 2019, then expanded to $34.2 million in 2020 and exploded to $144.3 million in 2021. That peak was not a normal year, but a market event: a concentrated moment when trophy works, global liquidity, the post-pandemic search for culturally legible icons, and Banksy’s transition from street phenomenon to institutional contemporary master briefly aligned with almost indecent efficiency.
After 2021, the market did not disappear; it normalized. Turnover fell to $38.0 million in 2022, $22.7 million in 2023, and $11.2 million in 2024, before recovering modestly to $13.2 million in 2025. The correction is therefore not simply a collapse in appetite for Banksy. It is a recalibration after a period in which both price expectations and supply quality were exceptional. The most important distinction is that the post-2021 market has been defined less by a lack of buyers than by a scarcity of major works offered at auction.
Liquidity remained comparatively resilient. The dataset records 20 sold lots in 2025, almost identical to 2022, but the average price fell dramatically because the material was generally less monumental and less trophy-grade. This is the central lesson of the originals market: volume alone does not explain value. In Banksy’s case, the identity of the object matters brutally. A major canvas, a historic image, a strong provenance or a culturally canonical motif can transform the annual statistics. A weaker object can still sell, but it does not move the market. The auction market for Banksy originals is therefore a market of discontinuities, not a neat staircase. It behaves less like a liquid equity and more like a small republic governed by a few charismatic dictators.
The years 2018 and 2019 represent the final stage of the pre-boom market, but the word “pre” should not be mistaken for quiet. Turnover almost doubled from $9.8 million in 2018 to $20.7 million in 2019, while liquidity remained strong, with 22 lots sold in 2018 and 24 in 2019. The sell-through rate was already close to perfect, reaching 96% in 2018 and 100% in 2019, which indicates that the demand base had formed before the broader pandemic-era expansion of the Banksy market.
The composition of value was already becoming uneven. In 2019, the top three lots represented roughly 67% of total turnover, revealing a structural feature that would continue throughout the period: Banksy’s original market is heavily dependent on a small number of important works. This is not necessarily a weakness. It is the normal condition of a market in which prime works are scarce and collector attention concentrates around instantly recognizable images, major paintings, and historically resonant objects.
Average prices rose from approximately $447,000 in 2018 to $862,000 in 2019, while the median price moved more modestly from roughly $358,000 to $398,000. This divergence already shows the importance of trophy lots. The top of the market was beginning to detach from the broader body of transactions, and the statistical average was being pulled upward by a small number of exceptional sales.
In 2020, the Banksy originals market moved decisively into a higher price regime. Turnover reached $34.2 million, despite only 16 sold lots, and the average price climbed above $2.1 million. This was not simply a function of more supply. It was a function of better supply and more aggressive competition for works that carried both visual immediacy and cultural relevance. The median price rose to approximately $955,000, a major step above the 2018–2019 range. This matters because it shows that the expansion was not confined exclusively to a single trophy sale. While the top lots still dominated the annual result, the middle of the market also moved upward. In the language of markets, 2020 was the year in which the bid deepened.
The pandemic also changed the psychology of collecting. Buyers were no longer merely acquiring Banksy as a clever insurgent brand from the street-art universe. They were acquiring Banksy as one of the few contemporary artists whose images had become globally legible, instantly reproducible, politically charged and strangely comforting in their irreverence. In a period of uncertainty, the market rewarded artists whose language required no footnotes. Banksy, as usual, arrived with a spray can and no permission slip.
The year 2021 was the apex of the cycle. Turnover reached approximately $144.3 million, more than four times the 2020 total and nearly fifteen times the level recorded in 2018. The dataset records 37 sold lots and 7 unsold lots, producing a sell-through rate of 86%. The slight softening in sell-through is not surprising; when consignors and auction houses push ambitious estimates into a euphoric market, some works inevitably test the ceiling rather than the floor.
What made 2021 exceptional was not merely the number of lots sold, but the density of high-value transactions. The dataset records 22 lots above $1 million and an average price of almost $3.9 million. Even the median price rose above $1.0 million. In other words, 2021 was not just a single-sale anomaly; it was a broad repricing of the upper segment of the Banksy originals market.
At the same time, the top three lots accounted for approximately 44% of annual turnover. This is a high concentration, but lower than in 2019 and 2020, which suggests that 2021 had unusual depth across the high end. It was the rare moment when both the very top of the market and the layer immediately below it were active at the same time. It was also the kind of year that can make every owner believe their work is a masterpiece and every auction specialist temporarily develop the courage of a central banker.
The correction began in 2022. Turnover fell to $38.0 million, and while that figure still exceeded the entire 2020 market, the direction of travel was unmistakable. Average price declined to approximately $1.9 million, and the median price settled just below $1 million. The sell-through rate also softened to 80%, showing that buyers became more selective as the broader speculative heat began to leave the market.
In 2023, turnover declined again to $22.7 million, but the average price remained almost unchanged at approximately $1.9 million because fewer works sold and the annual result was heavily influenced by the strongest consignments. This is important: the market had corrected, but it had not collapsed into indiscriminate weakness. Serious works still achieved serious prices, while secondary or over-estimated material faced greater resistance.
The post-2021 correction therefore appears to be a quality filter. During the boom, the market was prepared to absorb a wide range of works at ambitious levels. By 2022 and 2023, collectors became more disciplined. The Banksy name still carried enormous force, but the market increasingly differentiated between canonical images, important paintings, editioned objects, minor works, and weaker examples. The signature alone was no longer a universal solvent.
The years 2024 and 2025 mark the stabilization phase. Turnover declined to $11.2 million in 2024 and recovered to $13.2 million in 2025. On the surface, these figures appear modest compared with the 2021 peak, but that comparison is somewhat unfair. 2021 was a fever; 2024 and 2025 are closer to the body temperature of the current market. The most striking feature of the current period is the combination of solid liquidity and much lower average prices. In 2025, 20 lots sold, almost the same number as in 2022, yet turnover was only about one-third of the 2022 total. The average price fell to approximately $659,000 and the median price to approximately $158,000. This does not necessarily imply that collectors have abandoned Banksy originals. It implies that the works coming to auction were generally less expensive, less monumental, or less central to the artist’s mythology.
The 2025 market also remained highly dependent on the top of the annual distribution. The top three lots represented roughly 72% of turnover. This means that the recovery in 2025 was not broad-based in the way 2021 was. It was a selective market, driven by a handful of stronger works while the broader base remained more modest. That is not unhealthy; it is simply more honest.
The originals market is structurally volatile because the range between the lowest and highest annual prices is enormous. The top price in 2021 reached approximately $25.4 million, while the median transaction was far lower. Even in quieter years, one important sale can reshape the annual picture. This is why averages must be read with caution. In Banksy’s case, the average often tells us more about the quality of the best consignment than about the condition of the whole market.
The median is therefore a useful corrective. It shows that the middle of the market reached its high point in 2021, remained elevated in 2022 and 2023, and then moved sharply lower in 2024 and 2025. This pattern confirms that the correction was not simply the disappearance of trophy works; it also affected mid-tier pricing. However, the lower median in 2025 should be interpreted alongside the nature of supply. A market selling smaller and less central works will naturally produce a lower median even if demand for major works remains robust.
This is the paradox of Banksy originals: the artist’s market is both extremely global and highly object-specific. Everyone knows the images, but not every object carries the same force. The market rewards works that possess the right combination of scale, image, date, provenance, medium and cultural charge. A major Banksy original is not simply a Banksy with a larger price tag. It is a historical object wearing a hoodie.
The market for Banksy originals is extraordinarily concentrated among a handful of international auction houses. Between 2018 and 2025, Sotheby’s emerged as the dominant force in the category, accounting for the largest share of turnover by a considerable margin. Sotheby’s London alone generated more than $81 million in sales during the period under review, while Sotheby’s New York contributed an additional $44.5 million. Combined, these two salerooms represent well over $125 million of turnover, confirming Sotheby’s position as the principal marketplace for museum-quality Banksy originals.
Christie’s maintained a similarly important role, particularly through its London operation, which generated more than $43 million in sales, complemented by nearly $20 million in New York and over $11 million in Hong Kong. Together, Christie’s and Sotheby’s account for the overwhelming majority of high-value Banksy transactions, reflecting their ability to secure the artist’s most significant works and attract the deepest pool of international collectors.
While Phillips, Bonhams and more recently Fair Warning have achieved notable results, their market share remains substantially smaller. Nevertheless, these houses have occasionally played a pivotal role, particularly when offering exceptional consignments. Fair Warning’s sale of Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape demonstrates how a single trophy work can dramatically alter annual rankings in a market where supply remains exceptionally limited. The data ultimately reveals a highly concentrated ecosystem in which a small number of auction houses control the majority of important consignments. In the Banksy originals market, access to landmark works matters far more than transaction volume alone.
The geographic distribution of Banksy originals closely mirrors the artist’s cultural origins and the global structure of the contemporary art market. London remains the undisputed epicentre of the category, accounting for the largest proportion of total turnover throughout the period. As Banksy’s home market and the location of many of his most important historical collectors, London continues to attract the strongest consignments and the fiercest bidding competition.
New York established itself as the second major centre, particularly during the pandemic-era boom. The city benefited from a growing crossover between traditional contemporary art collectors and Banksy buyers, drawing capital that might otherwise have been directed towards artists such as Basquiat, Warhol or KAWS. The spectacular results achieved in New York between 2020 and 2022 illustrate the increasing acceptance of Banksy as a blue-chip contemporary artist rather than merely a street art phenomenon.
Hong Kong emerged as a meaningful, though smaller, market during the same period. The city generated several important seven-figure results and demonstrated sustained demand from Asian collectors. However, the data also shows that the most iconic and historically significant works continue to gravitate towards London and New York, where the largest concentration of ultra-high-net-worth collectors remains.
Taken together, London and New York account for the vast majority of global turnover, highlighting the remarkably Anglo-American character of the Banksy originals market. Despite Banksy’s universal cultural appeal, the highest levels of demand remain concentrated in the two cities most capable of absorbing trophy-level contemporary art.
The worksheet also tracks street works separately, and this distinction is important. Street works are part of the Banksy story, but they do not behave exactly like studio paintings or editioned objects. They raise different questions concerning removal, context, conservation, ownership history, public meaning and, often, controversy. Their market is therefore connected to the originals market but not identical to it.
In several years, street works add meaningful but relatively modest turnover compared with the core originals market. In 2025, for example, the worksheet records approximately $414,250 in street-work turnover, while the core market generated approximately $13.2 million. The separate treatment is analytically sound because street works can distort interpretation if folded mechanically into the same pool as canvases and studio-produced objects. A removed wall is not just a picture; it is a crime scene, a souvenir, an urban relic and sometimes a lawsuit waiting for a frame.
The Banksy originals market from 2018 to 2025 should be understood as a completed cycle rather than a simple rise and fall. The pre-boom years established liquidity and collector confidence. The 2020 expansion moved the market into a higher price regime. The 2021 peak repriced the category at extraordinary speed. The 2022–2023 correction reintroduced selectivity. The 2024–2025 period shows stabilization at lower aggregate levels, with buyers still active but far less willing to pay peak-era prices for anything less than exceptional material.
This pattern is broadly consistent with the development of a maturing market. In immature markets, the name often matters more than the object. In mature markets, hierarchy returns. Banksy is now well past the stage where every work can be treated as a simple proxy for the brand. Collectors, advisors and auction houses increasingly separate the canonical from the peripheral, the historic from the decorative, the iconic from the merely clever.
The implications for valuation are clear. For major works, particularly those connected to Banksy’s best-known images or to significant moments in his career, the post-2021 correction may create scarcity value rather than weakness. The absence of trophy supply can make the market appear smaller, but it can also make the next genuinely important work more visible when it appears. For lesser works, the market is more demanding. Estimates must be disciplined, condition and provenance must be impeccable, and the object must justify its price beyond the magic word “Banksy.”
20 lots sold at auction in 2025 for a total turnover of USD 13,178,500. With 1 lot failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 95%. The highest price was achieved by Crude Oil (Vettriano), an iconic Crude Oil painting dated 2005 that sold at Sotheby’s in London, on 4 March 2025, for GBP 4,260,000 (USD 5,452,800).
The Top 3 lots (also the only lots that sold for more than USD 1 million) generated a cumulative turnover of USD 9,508,800, representing 72% of the total turnover of 2025.
This includes 8 editions that sold for a cumulative turnover of USD 1,731,787. The most expensive edition in 2025 was Kids on Guns, an edition on canvas dated 2004, that sold at Phillips in London on 6 March 2025 for GBP 508,000 (USD 650,240).
Furthermore, 3 Street Works sold at auction in 2025, all three at Julien’s Auctions, for a total of USD 459,050, led by TV Girl, dated circa 2003/2004, that sold on 27 February 2025, for USD 222,250. This is not included in the total for 2025.
14 lots sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 11,245,140. With 6 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 70%. The highest price was achieved by The Leopard and Lamb, a painting dated 2016, that sold at Phillips in Hong-Kong on 31 May 2024 for HKD 36,750,000 (USD 4,704,905). 4 lots sold for more than USD 1 million, generating a total turnover of USD 8,752,613, representing 82.6% of the total turnover for 2024.
This includes 5 editions that generated a cumulative turnover of USD 2,469,295, led by Girl and Balloon, dated 2003, from the edition on canvas of 25, that sold at Christie’s, in Hong-Kong, 0n 26 September 2024, for HKD 8,568,000 (USD 1,100,430).
Furthermore, 8 Street Works sold at auction in 2024, generating a total of USD 886,760 (not included in the total above), led by Untitled (Police Van Chimp), a piece shown at Turf War in 2003, that sold on 22 February 2024 for USD 224,000.
13 lots sold at auction in 2023 for a total turnover of USD 22,778,355. With 4 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 75%. The highest price was achieved at Phillips in New-York on 17 May 2023 with Banksy’s homage to Jean-Michel Basquiat, Banksquiat, Boy and Dog in Stop and Search, dated 2018, that sold for USD 9,724,500.
The top 3 lots generated a cumulative turnover of USD 15,135,120, representing 66.4% of the total turnover for 2023. 6 lots sold for more than USD 1 million, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 15,135,120, representing 66.4% of the total turnover for 2023.
Phillips London 13 October 2023 Est.: GBP 2,200,000 – 2,800,000 Price Realized GBP 2,710,000 / USD 3,288,885 Banksy | Phillips
Bonhams London 29 June 2023 Est.: GBP 1,200,000 – 1,800,000 Price Realized GBP 1,681,900 / USD 2,121,735 Bonhams : Congestion Charge 2004
2 editions sold for a total turnover of USD 437,985, led by Exclamation Rat, an edition on canvas of 25, sold at Sotheby’s in London, on 18 April 2023, for GBP 279,400 (USD 346,995).
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21 lots sold at auction in 2022 for a total turnover of USD 39,274,640. With 5 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 81%. The highest price was achieved at Sotheby’s in Hong-Kong on 27 April 2022, when an iteration of Love Is In The Air, dated 2006 sold for HKD 51,073,000 (USD 6,508,768).
The top 3 lots generated a cumulative turnover of USD 16,137,025, representing 41.1% of the total turnover for 2022. 10 lots sold for more than USD 1 million, for a cumulative turnover of USD 32,229,045, contributing 82.1% to the total turnover for 2022.
4 Editions sold in 2022 for a total turnover of USD 6,536,220, led by an iteration of Love Is In the Air on canvas dated 2006 that sold at Sotheby’s in London, on 14 October 2022, for GPB 3,483,500 (USD 3,905,270).
Furthermore, 6 Street Works sold in 2022 for a total of USD 2,778,370 (not included in total), let by the iconic Merrivale Stable, sold at Anderson & Garland, on 27 January 2022, for GBP 1 million (USD 1,338,475).
38 lots sold at auction in 2021 for a total turnover of $146,353,205. This is the highest total ever achieved at auction by Banksy in any calendar year. With 5 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 88%.
The Top 3 Lots generated a total of $63,103,755, representing 43.7% of the total for 2021.
22 lots sold for more than $1 million, generating a total turnover of $136,550,955, representing 94.6% of the total for 2021.
Love Is In the Air (2005), a version on canvas of Banksy’s iconic visual sold at Sotheby’s New-York on 12 May 2021 for $12,903,000. Another version on canvas, Love Is In the Air (2006), this time in an edition of 15, sold at Sotheby’s New-York on 18 November 2021 for $8,077,200. 5 works from the series sold at auction in 2021 for a total of $24,260,070.
6 Editions sold in 2021 for a total turnover of USD 16,489,475, led by an iteration of Love Is In The Air on canvas, in edition of 15, that sold at Sotheby’s in New-York, on 18 November 2021 for USD 8,077,200.
Barely Legal, held in Los Angeles in 2006, was the most important show of Banksy in the US, as it substantially increased the artist’s notoriety globally. 4 paintings exhibited at Barely Legal sold at auction in 2021 for a total value of $19,802,180, led by Trolley Hunters, that sold at Sotheby’s, in New-York, on 18 November 2021, for $6,698,400.
Monkeys remain a collector’s favorite, with 7 lots featuring a monkey sold at auction in 2021 for a total of $14,099,405, led by Laugh Now, a work on metal, dated 2006, that was also exhibited at Barely Legal, that sold at Sotheby’s, in London, on 29 June 2021, for GBP 2,435,000 ($3,371,975).
Furthermore, 7 Street Works sold at auction in 2021, generating a total turnover of USD 2,613,405, led by The Whitehouse Rat, that sold at Hessink’s in the Netherlands, on 26 May 2021 for EUR 593,750 (USD 726,420).
The leading lot of 2020 is Show Me The Monet, which sold at Sotheby’s London on 21 October 2020 for GBP 7,551,600 (USD 9,924,565), closely followed by Forgive Us Our Trespassing sold at Sotheby’s Hong-Kong on 6 October 2020 for $8,272,623. The Top 3 Lots generated a total of $21,020,460, representing 58.2% of the total for 2020. 8 lots sold for more than USD 1 million, generating a cumulative turnover of $29,562,990, representing 81.9% of the total for 2020.
6 Editions sold at auction in 2020, for a total turnover of $4,173,140, led by a very rare double-sided edition on paper, of only 8, Girl with Balloon and Morons Sepia, that sold at Phillips in London, on 20 October 2020 for GBP 1,232,500 (USD 1,609,580).
One Street Work sold at auction in 2020, Bird Grenade, dated 2002, sold at Hessink’s in The Netherlands, on 26 November 2020 for EUR 212,500 (USD 241,870).
Stenciled with the artist’s name “BANKSY” (lower left)
One Street Work, Glastonbury Parachute Rats, dated 2002, sold at Julien’s Auctions, on 25 April 2019 for USD 64,000.
The leading lot of 2018 was Girl with Balloon, a painting dated 2018, which shredded live at Sotheby’s London on 5 October 2018 after it sold for GBP 1,042,000 (USD 1,365,482), and became Love Is In The Bin. The Top 3 lots generated $3,030,685, representing 30.8% of the total for 2018.
7 Editions sold for a total of $1,682,795, led by an iteration of Girl with Balloon, edition of 25 on canvas that sold at Bonhams in London, on 7 March 2018, for GBP 344,750 (USD 432,575).
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