Overview of Banksy Originals

“As soon as I cut my first stencil I could feel the power there. I like the political edge. All graffiti is low-level dissent, but stencils have an extra history.
They’ve been used to start revolutions and to stop wars”

It would be over-ambitious at that stage to even think being able to provide some kind of cohesive and complete panorama of what we call “Banksy Originals”. Nobody has actually attempted that before…

Maybe it is about the “secrecy” surrounding the artist and his oeuvre, maybe it is also because the artist has been extremely prolific all along his career.

For now, we will satisfy ourselves with a first preliminary draft of some of the most iconic stencils and series that Banksy has been sharing with the world. This overview will be regularly updated and completed.

For more comprehensive information, please refer to the Banksy Catalogue section.

PRELIMINARY WORKING DRAFT
PLEASE COME BACK SOON FOR A MORE COMPLETE VERSION

ETA; 30 MAY 2025

Overview of Banksy Originals

1. Girl with Balloon
2. Love is in the Air
3. Monkeys
4. Rats
5. Vandalized/Crude oils
6. Barely Legal
7. Youth & Innocence
8. Police
9. Warfare

1. Bomb Love
2. Happy Chopper
3. Heavy Weaponry
4. Love Is In The Air
5. Laugh Now
6. Keep It Real
7. Re-mixed Masterworks
8. Vandalized Oils
9. Rats
10. Barcode Leopard
11. Birds
12. HMV Dog
13. Communist Leaders & Royalty
14. Innocent Kids
15. Happy Coppers
16. War Machines
17. Sculptures

Girl with Balloon

Beating Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire, Constable’s The Hay Wain and Hockney’s A Bigger Splash to the top spot, Banksy’s Girl with Balloon was voted the nation’s favorite artwork in a 2017 poll; a resounding affirmation of the broad and wide-reaching popularity of this undeniably iconic and culturally formidable image. This accolade was further compounded by the dramatic live ‘shredding’ event at Sotheby’s in October 2018 which notoriously turned a Girl with Balloon canvas into Love is in the Bin – a work that dominated headlines the world over, taking the art world by storm and has since been exhibited at the Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden and more recently at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Its impact on the latter’s visitor numbers was substantial, and further reinforces the power of this image and its mysterious author.

Girl with Balloon is a fundamentally ambiguous image. Showing a small girl with windswept dress and hair, the viewer is unsure as to whether she has let the balloon go, or had it swept from her hand; uncertain as to whether to read this as a hopeful scene, or a desolate one. This image has become Banksy’s calling card. Akin to Andy Warhol’s soup cans, and Damien Hirst’s spots, this motif has appeared throughout his oeuvre and onwards through global visual culture. Starting in 2002, the work appeared in street murals in Shoreditch and the South bank in London. The artist created a hugely popular edition of 600 prints on paper, including 150 signed impressions, and there is an edition of 25 works on canvas that are now considered amongst the most sought-after paintings from Banksy’s career. In 2017, Girl with Balloon was voted the nation’s favorite artwork in a poll, beating Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire, Constable’s The Hay Wain, and Hockney’s A Bigger Splash. As an image it is transcendent and immediately recognizable; the most famous image created by the most famous artist today. Born in Bristol and based in England, Banksy has garnered international acclaim for his distinctive style of satirical street art and graffiti, executed using a technique of stenciling. His work is rich in dark humor and frequently captioned with subversive epigrams that provide poignant and potent commentaries on the social and political aspects of contemporary society. Instantly gettable, Banksy’s graffiti image is a perfect encapsulation of human emotion for the fast pace of our social media age: it seditiously pokes fun at high-minded art world savoir faire and in doing so appeals to many, for whom it represents a contemporary expression of sanctity, a bright and vivid symbol of hope everlasting. Ultimately, however, Girl with Balloon is the supreme icon within Banksy’s canon of motifs: whether you are for or against him, this image utterly encapsulates the immediacy and controversy surrounding the artist’s mission.

1. Unique Works

Girl with Balloon, 2006

Sotheby’s London: 2 March 2022
Estimated: GBP 2,000,000 – 3,000,000
GBP 2,818,000 / USD 3,766,876

Girl with Balloon | The Now Evening Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY (b. 1974)
Girl with Balloon, 2006
Spray-paint on metal
60×90 cm (23 5/8 x 35 1/2 inches)
This work is from an edition of 5

This work comes from the collection of Robbie Williams, who acquired it directly from the artist in 2006. Like Banksy, Robbie Williams was one of the most important figures in British culture in the 2000s. In their respective fields, each of these creative figures defined the landscape. It is befitting that Williams owned such an iconic piece of British art and in the context of Williams’ ownership, it is easier to read the message of the work as hopeful.

Love Is In The Bin, 2018

Sotheby’s London: 14 October 2021
Estimated: GBP 4,000,000 – 6,000,000
GBP 18,582,000 / USD 25,457,340

Love is in the Bin | Contemporary Art Evening Auction | 2021 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
Love Is In The Bin, 2018
Spray paint and acrylic on canvas mounted on board, framed by the artist
Decommissioned, remote controlled shredding mechanism remains in the frame.
142x78x18 cm (60 x 30.9 x 7 inches)

Undermining the establishment has always been at the heart of Banksy’s work, indeed, taking the artworld down a peg or two has particular currency in his imagery and ideology. It should therefore have come as no surprise that Banksy would mastermind perhaps the most extraordinary and elaborate feat of artistic subterfuge in recent history: the moment Girl with Balloon ‘self-destructed’ at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction on 5 October 2018.

But of course, this wasn’t an act of destruction, it was a moment of creation, a metamorphosis that transformed Banksy’s Girl with Balloon into an entirely new work of art that, in the words of BBC Arts Editor Will Gompetz, ‘will come to be seen as one of the most significant artworks of the early 21^st Century.’
(Will Gompertz, ‘Will Gompertz on Banksy’s Love is in the Bin’, BBC News, 13 October 2018, online).

Hidden within the ornate gilded frame surrounding Banksy’s famous spray-painted image was a shredding mechanism that began whirring and beeping as soon as Oliver Barker hammered down the gavel on the winning GBP 1,042,000 bid: a gobsmacked, audience looked on as the canvas began to pass through the frame in neatly cut strips. By the time the work was removed from view by Sotheby’s technicians, the machinery had stopped shredding halfway through the composition; a malfunction unexpected by the artist who, on his Instagram, claimed that “it worked in rehearsals every time”. Not knowing what was to come, Sotheby’s had placed the work at the end of one of the phone banks in a position reserved for works set to achieve high prices – a spot that played right into the artist’s hands as the event was immortalized on camera. In the days and weeks that followed Banksy’s shredded canvas became a cultural phenomenon: 30,000 news stories ensued globally, and the infamous painting became the subject of memes, political cartoons, protest placards, fridge magnets and t-shirts, to name only a few imaginative uses.

2. Editions/Series

Girl and Balloon, 2003

Christie’s Hong-Kong: 26 September 2024
Estimated: HKD 7,000,000 – 10,000,000
HKD 8,568,000 / USD 1,100,430

Girl and Balloon (christies.com)

BANKSY (B. 1974)
Girl and Balloon, 2003
Spray paint on canvas
40×40 cm (16×16 inches)
Stenciled ‘BANKSY’ (on the side)
Numbered ‘21⁄25’ (on the stretcher bar)

A contemporary emblem of innocence and hope, Girl with Balloon is one of the limited editions uniquely rendered using a hand-cut stencil by the famed British graffiti artist Banksy. It was created in 2003, a year after the Girl with Balloon—his most legendary and lauded image to date—made its first appearance as a graffiti mural outside Shoreditch shop and later at Southbank with an epitaph ‘There is Always Hope’. Despite its universal resonance, the image depicted in the present work—a girl stenciled in black reaching out towards a red, heart-shaped balloon dangling from a sting—is not without ambiguity. Is the girl reaching out for something she has lost, or has she released a message of love into the world? Such ambivalence is what made Banksy’s works agitating yet powerful, as with all of Banksy’s works, their ultimate meanings always stay with the spectator.

“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable”

Girl with Balloon not only stands as the purest expression of Banksy’s visual genius as an instantly recognizable and timelessly arresting image, but it has also proved to be an enduring icon of transcendent, multivalent meaning. In 2005, Banksy produced another variant of the motif on the West Bank barrier wall, this time with a bunch of balloons lifting the girl into the sky. In 2014, a version featuring a child with a headscarf was projected onto Nelson’s Column and other global landmarks in support of crisis victims in Syria. In 2018, the fame of Girl with Balloon rose to a new height with an unexpected intervention by the artist during a live auction where the work with the same title was shredded soon after it was sold. As the first artwork in history to have been ‘re-created’ during a live auction, the controversial work was renamed Love is in the Bin (2018) by the artist’s studio Pest Control soon after. In 2021, it was renamed the second time as Girl without Balloon (2021) when it was re-offered at the auction. (A. Shaw, ‘Banksy’s shredded Girl with Balloon renamed and redated—again’, The Art Newspaper, 23 Jan 2024) A motif that perhaps best defines the essence of Banksy’s art with two simple visual elements, Girl with Balloon is a time-tested image that will continue to evolve and touch the hearts of millions.

Girl with Balloon & Morons Sepia, 2007

Phillips Hong-Kong: 1 December 2022
Estimated: HKD 4,500,000 – 6,500,000
HKD 5,670,000 / USD 726,461

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporar… Lot 25 December 2022 | Phillips

First developed in 2002 and 2006 respectively, Girl with Ballon and Morons have, as independent images, become laden with meaning. The former, initially devised as a stencil mural, was exhibited in such public and political spaces as Waterloo Bridge and the West Bank barrier. Its portrayal of a young girl reaching for – or releasing – a drifting balloon spurred a number of interpretations relating to one’s inevitable loss of childhood and innocence. Recognized as one of the artist’s foremost symbols for more than a decade, and voted the nation’s favorite artwork in 2017, the image once again came to the forefront of the public’s attention in 2018, when a 2006 framed copy of the artwork came to auction and sold for a record price. Adding further momentum to the event, the work began self-destructing just a few moments after the closing bid, by means of a concealed mechanical paper shredder Banksy had built into the frame bottom. Marking auction history with an unprecedented performative quality, Girl with Balloon became an icon for the unpredictable developments of contemporary markets, whilst simultaneously entering the realm of popular culture.

Similarly quoting the environment and corporate fabric of the auction world, Morons was published as a set of six prints on the occasion of Banksy’s important and characteristically controversial warehouse exhibition Barely Legal, which took place in Los Angeles in 2006. In the now iconic image, an auctioneer commands a sale room packed with bidders, immortalising the historical 1987 sale that saw Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers yield a price of £22,500,000 – a record for any work at auction at the time. Among the works on display, a large canvas to the right of the composition stands out, reading the words ‘I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU MORONS ACTUALLY BUY THIS SHIT’. Devising a facetious critique of the art world – one that Banksy has become known and revered for – the artist paradoxically turns his own creative gesture into a reproducible image, one that, in Girl with Balloon & Morons Sepia, constitutes half of the work’s iconographic value. Together, Morons Sepia and Girl with Balloon form a joint critique of the art world, specifically on the auction market, irreverently contributing to the artist’s overarching political stance. As such, the work epitomises Banksy’s ability to propel his infamous urban vernacular to the realm of high art.

Girl with Balloon Diptych, 2006

Sotheby’s London: 14 October 2022
Estimated: GBP 1,200,000 – 1,800,000
GBP 882,000 / USD 988,789

Girl with Balloon Diptych | The Now Evening Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY (B. 1974)
Girl with Balloon Diptych, 2006
Spray paint on canvas, in two parts
Each: 30×30 cm (12×12 inches)
Left canvas: signed Banksy, dated 2006 and numbered Artist Proof 00/25 (on the reverse)
Right canvas: tagged (on the overturn edge)

Girl with Balloon (Diptych), 2005

Christie’s London: 14 October 2021
Estimated: GBP 2,600,000 – 3,500,000
GBP 3,042,500 / USD 4,168,225

BANKSY (christies.com)

BANKSY
Girl with Balloon (Diptych), 2005
Spray paint on canvas, in two parts
Each: 30.2 x 30.2 cm (12×12 inches)
This work is from an edition of twenty-five

Girl with Balloon, 2003

Sotheby’s London: 29 June 2021
Estimated: GBP 1,000,000 – 1,500,000
GBP 2,072,000 / USD 2,870,000

Girl with Balloon | British Art Evening Sale: Modern/Contemporary | 2021 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
Girl with Balloon, 2003
Spray paint on canvas
40.5 x 40.5 cm (16×16 inches)
This work is from an edition of 25

With its striking simplicity and raw immediacy, Girl with Balloon, 2003, is one of the most widely recognizable images by the anonymous and world-renowned artist Banksy. Unlike the other editioned iterations of this famous motif, the present example belongs to a rare silkscreen edition 25 artist’s proofs.

Love Is In The Air

Testament to the importance of the work and the power of its imagery, in which a masked figure of a militant stands poised to hurl a bouquet of flowers into the air, the original street intervention of Love is in the Air, was sprayed onto a wall in Palestine, and was chosen to illustrate the front cover of Banksy’s 2005 monograph Wall and Piece.

The work shares its title with the 1978 hit song by John Paul Young. Emblematic of Banksy’s wit, satire and dark humor, the title is expressive of the positive message of the work, that being the call for peace. Banksy’s iconic flower thrower has become synonymous with the artist’s thought-provoking oeuvre, a powerful image expressing the absurdity of war and the artist’s vocal advocacy for peace.  

An archetypal example of Banksy’s perceptive and stimulating commentaries on contemporary political and social events, Love is in the Air is one of the most recognizable works by the brilliant graffiti artist and offers a simple message of hope. In the tradition of other historically iconic images that preceded it, such as Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, Warhol’s Marilyn or Alfred Leete’s Lord Kitchener Wants You poster, Love is in the Air has been imitated and replicated countless times in a testament to its visual strength and power. It is indisputable that this bold and powerful work helped to establish Banksy’s place in art history, cementing his reputation as a pivotal and universally heard artistic voice. In Love is in the Air, Banksy’s masked subject adopts the pose of a violent protester, moments away from hurling his weapon into the air towards an unseen enemy.

A PEACEFUL PROTESTOR OFFERS A FLOWER TO THE MILITARY POLICE AT THE ANTI-VIETNAM WAR PROTEST AT THE PENTAGON IN OCTOBER 1967

However, Banksy takes the viewer by surprise, including a bouquet of flowers where the viewer would expect to see a weapon, such as a hand-grenade, brick or bomb. The inclusion of a bouquet of flowers recalls the flower power movement and student protests in the United States and France in the 1960s, and the iconic images of young men and women meeting guns with flowers that have memorialized these events in popular memory. During the protests against the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States, flowers became symbols of passive resistance and methods of non-violence, opposing the war and the atrocities it caused. With Love is in the Air, Banksy campaigns for peace rather than war, and evokes the notion of civil disobedience, highlighting the notion that weapons are not necessarily needed to achieve political or social change, and change can be achieved through non-violent means.

1. Unique Works

Love is in the Air, 2005

Sotheby’s New-York: 12 May 2021
Estimated: USD 3,000,000 – 5,000,000
USD 12,903,000

Love is in the Air | Contemporary Art Evening Auction | 2021 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
Love is in the Air, 2005
Oil and spray paint on canvas
90×90 cm (35.4 x 36.4 inches)

Love is in the Air is a quintessential Banksy painting: instantly recognizable, the image has become synonymous with the artist’s indelible graphic style, wry humor and galvanizing political commentary. Banksy’s subject adopts the archetypal pose of civic unrest, preparing to hurl a brick or bomb towards an unseen foe, however the artist replaces his projectile with a bunch of flowers, disarming this image of violent unrest to create a work that is both a call for change and advocation of peace.

One of the artist’s most cherished works on canvas, further distinguished by the inclusion of hand painted flowers in oil, Love is in the Air is a work that reminds us of the injustice and inequality that exists around us, and offers a simple message of hope. The present work features a bouquet of brightly colored flowers hand painted in oils by the artist, a unique feature rarely seen in Banksy’s oeuvre. The incorporation of these richly painted flowers brings to mind the long tradition of floral still life paintings; yet in typical Banksy fashion, these vivid blooms are a far cry from the somber beauty of a 17^th century Dutch floral arrangement, or indeed the symbolic incorporation of flowers by Medieval, Renaissance and Victorian artists, but rather appear as if they may have been snatched from a local gas station to be hurled at an unseen enemy.

Love Is In the Air (with stars), 2006

Sotheby’s New-York: 17 November 2022
Estimated: USD 1,000,000 – 1,500,000
USD 1,159,200

Love Is In the Air (with stars) | Contemporary Day Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY (B. 1974)
Love Is In the Air (with stars), 2006
Acrylic and spray paint on canvas
42.5 x 43 cm (16 3/4 x 17 inches)
Tagged BANKSY (on the turning edge); signed BANKSY (on the reverse)

One of Banksy’s most iconic and immediately recognizable images, Love is in the Air (with stars) encapsulates the decisive social commentary and wit that typifes the artist’s highly acclaimed oeuvre. Entirely fresh to market, having been first acquired by Banksy’s primary dealer Steve Lazarides, the present work is an entirely unique iteration on Banksy’s iconic Flower Thrower series. Distinguished by its diamond shape and arch of red stars surrounding the iconic image of the flower thrower, the present work is the first diamond-shaped star thrower to appear at auction. The arch of red stars rendered in the present work serve as a resounding symbol of peace. Recalling the crown of stars usually hovering over renderings of the Virgin Mary and other Catholic saints, this art historical symbol is now most recognizable as the main insignia of the flag of the European Union. Here, Banksy has repurposed this instantly recognizable emblem and given it new meaning. Moreover, the tantalizing halo of red stars that encircle the figure, which creates an interesting and dynamic tension between the delicacy of the stencil and the brutality of the arc, acts as a roadmap for the flowers being thrown. The present work exposes the artist’s continued interest in the irrationality of the war, and the associated political extremism that can derive from unbalanced power dynamics. Embracing his role as a social commentator, Banksy uses the power of familiar symbols of both an arch of stars and a bouquet of flowers, which results in controversial and provocative images, to convey a political message. The artist reminds us of the injustice and inequality that persists in contemporary society, and provides a universal message for hope, advocating for peace and social change to overcome the conflicts that surround us. This highly demonstrative work contributed to establishing Banksy’s place in the history of art, securing his reputation as a cardinal and extensively heard voice.

Love is in the Air, 2003

Phillips London: 15 April 2021
Estimated: GBP 400,000 – 600,000
GBP 441,000 / USD 607,772

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporary A… Lot 20 April 2021 | Phillips

BANKSY
Love is in the Air, 2003
Spray paint on cardboard
68 x 67.5 cm (26.7 x 26.6 inches)

2. Editions/Series

Love Is In The Air, 2006

Sotheby’s London: 14 October 2022
Estimated: GBP 3,400,000 – 4,000,000
GBP 3,483,500 / USD 3,905,269

Love Is In The Air | The Now Evening Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY (B. 1974)
Love Is In The Air, 2006
Spray paint and oil on linen
91.5 x 91.5 cm (36×36 inches)
Tagged (on the overturn edge)
Signed Banksy, dated May 2006 and numbered AP 02 (on the overlap)

The richly colored, hand-painted flowers in the present work are a unique feature rarely seen in Banksy’s oeuvre. Their presence is reminiscent of the long tradition of floral still life paintings; yet unlike the floral arrangement in Medieval, Renaissance or 17^th century Dutch painting, the bouquet appears as though it has been snatched from a local gas station to be hurled at a foe amidst political turmoil. A prominent social commentator, Banksy draws on a classic trope and the ultimate reconciliatory symbol to juxtapose it with an incompatible reference in order to encapsulate the absurdity of war in a provocative image. Evoking the famous iteration of Chairman Mao’s portrait produced by Andy Warhol, in which he used technicolor inks to playfully transform Mao’s carefully controlled likeness, Banksy’s oil painted flowers poignantly contrast with the crispness of his signature quasi-mechanized stenciling technique.

Love is in the Air, 2002

Christie’s London: 13 October 2022
Estimated: GBP 500,000 – 700,000
GBP 567,000 / USD 635,650

BANKSY (christies.com)

BANKSY
Love is in the Air, 2002
Spray paint on canvas
21×18 inches (53.4 x 45.7 cm)
From a series, Tagged ‘Banksy’ (lower right)

Love is in the Air, 2006

Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 27 April 2022
Estimated: HKD 40,000,000 – 60,000,000
HKD 51,273,000 / USD 6,508,768

Banksy 班克斯 | Love is in the Air 愛在空氣中 | Contemporary Evening Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
Love is in the Air, 2006 
Oil and spray paint on canvas
91.4 x 91.4 cm (36×36 inches)

One of Banksy’s most celebrated works on canvas, Love is in the Air (2006), is further distinguished by the inclusion of hand-painted flowers in oil.

Love is in the Air, 2002

Christie’s London: 1 March 2022
Estimated: GBP 600,000 – 800,000
GBP 978,000
BANKSY (christies.com)

BANKSY
Love is in the Air, 2002
Spray paint on canvas
17×17 inches (43.2 x 43.2 cm)
Executed in 2002, this work is a variant outside an edition of five

Love Is In The Air, 2006

Sotheby’s New-York: 18 November 2021
Estimated: USD 4,000,000 – 6,000,000
USD 8,077,200

Love is in the Air | The Now Evening Auction | 2021 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
Love Is In The Air, 2006
Oil and spray paint on canvas
90×90 cm (35.4 x 35.4 inches)

One of Banksy’s most iconic and immediately recognizable images, Love is in the Air encapsulates the decisive social commentator and wry humor that typify the artist’s provocative and highly acclaimed oeuvre. In its original guerrilla iteration in Beit Sahour near the West Bank Barrier, Love is in the Air testifies to Banksy’s unique ability to activate urban environments and public architecture in a way that supercharges his message, lending his images a searing immediacy which extends far beyond all those who live in or visit the region, juxtaposing the active gesture of protest with the reconciliatory symbol of a Flower Bouquet. This anti-war sentiment is compounded by the work’s visual echoes of the flower power movement and the student protests which took place in France and American in the 60’s. The youthful subject throwing flowers as his weapon reminds us of the famous 1967 photograph of a young protester placing a flower in the barrel of a rifle pointed at his head during an anti-war demonstration. With this now-iconic image, Banksy offers us a universal message: that we must harness the virtues of peace in order to overcome the division and conflict that surround us and look ahead to a hopeful future.

The present work features a bouquet of flowers hand painted in oils by the artist, a unique feature rarely seen in Banksy’s oeuvre. The incorporation of these richly painted flowers brings to mind the long tradition of floral still life paintings; yet in typical Banksy fashion, these vivid blooms are a far cry from the somber beauty of a 17th century Dutch floral arrangement, or indeed the symbolic incorporation of flowers by Medieval, Renaissance and Victorian artists, but rather appear as if they may have been have been snatched from a local gas station to be hurled at an unseen enemy. Banksy understands his lineage as a social commentator and satirist and – much like Honoré Daumier and William Hogarth before him – uses the power of familiar symbols juxtaposed with incompatible references to create absurd and provocative images which convey potent political messages.

Love Is In The Air, 2002

Phillips New-York: 23 June 2021
Estimated: USD 1,000,000 – 2,000,000
USD 1,179,500

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporary Ar… Lot 46 June 2021 | Phillips

BANKSY
Love Is In The Air, 2002
Spray-paint on canvas
20×17 inches (50.8 x 43.3 cm)
This work is number 4 from an edition of 5

​An icon of the 21st century, Banksy’s Love Is In The Air is one of the artist’s most recognizable images. Evoking the 1960s pacifist slogan “Make Love Not War,” the work is a symbol of peaceful resistance and an ode to spontaneity. Executed in 2002, the present work is from a discrete edition of five canvases Banksy created for his debut exhibition in Los Angeles, Existencillism, at the 33 1/3 Gallery in July 2002. Like Bernini’s David, in Love Is In The Air, a solitary protestor is captured just at the moment before climactic action. However the weapon of choice for Banksy’s figure is a bouquet of flowers. The stenciled image first appeared as graffiti in Jerusalem in 2003 shortly after the erection of the West Bank Wall. One of Banksy’s most sought-after images, Love Is In The Air is quintessential of Banksy’s tongue-and-cheek social critiques expressed through his signature graphic style. Across the various painted iterations of Love Is In The Air, Banksy varies the effect of the spray paint, showcasing different renderings of shadow, blur, and the figure’s bouquet. In the present work, the artist elongates the shadow between the figure’s legs and creates a prominent blurring effect to the image, at once evoking the speed of the protestor’s movement and the nature of memory. Creating a striking visual contrast with the rest of the composition, the touches of bright red allude the color’s dual significations of violence and love, encapsulating Banksy’s message for this iconic image—love as the ultimate weapon.

Monkeys

Rats

Hunted down by authorities, considered nuisances by society, and looked down upon by the establishment, Banksy and street art form an inextricably linked comradery with the rat; the dregs of society. By giving the figure of the rat visibility on the world stage, Banksy speaks for those oppressed and defeated by the endless competition and consumerism that exists in our capitalistic society.

Rat with Scalpel, 2018

Bonhams London: 2 April 2025
Estimated: GBP 100,000 – 150,000
GBP 114,700 / USD 148,240

Bonhams : BANKSY (B. 1974) Rat with Scalpel (Executed in 2018)

“They exist without permission. They are hated, hunted and persecuted. They live in quiet desperation amongst the filth. And yet they are capable of bringing entire civilizations to their knees. If you are dirty, insignificant and unloved then rats are the ultimate role model.” 

Rat with Scalpel exemplifies one of Banksy’s signature motifs through a striking and graphic portrayal. The rat, a recurring symbol in Banksy’s oeuvre, represents marginalized and forgotten individuals in society. The fittingly named Pest Control Office handles the artist’s affairs and is another allusion to the vermin frequently featured in his work. The stencil for Rat with Scalpel was originally created and displayed near the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2018 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1968 demonstrations against President Charles de Gaulle. In 2019, the mural outside the Centre Pompidou was removed, stolen, and remains missing.

Banksy’s bold and recognizable stencil work combines a sharp awareness of contemporary socio-political issues with a distinctive visual style, elevating him from an outsider street artist to one of the most significant political and cultural voices of the 21st Century. His early encounters with law enforcement led him to adopt stenciling as his primary technique, allowing for rapid execution while preserving his anonymity. Rat with Scalpel stands as a representative example of Banksy’s most influential public stencil works, encapsulating both his artistic ingenuity and his engagement with political discourse.

Rat and Heart, 2014

Phillips London: 10 October 2024
Estimated: GBP 300,000 – 500,000
GBP 317,500 / USD 415,925

Banksy – Modern & Contemporary Art E… Lot 34 October 2024 | Phillips

Amongst Banksy’s familiar menagerie of animal avatars, no other creature reflects the furtive, underground activities of the street artist more than the much-maligned rat. Fundamentally urban, rats, like graffiti artists, move through the city largely unseen, attracting derision and penalty from a society that looks at them with a mixture of fear and loathing. Despite being forced underground, as products of these modern, urban societies, the rat also reflects certain unpleasant truths about the endless competition and consumerism that characterizes late-stage capitalism, and those that are oppressed and exploited by such systems. Here, the titular rat has gnawed away at the board ground to reveal the shape of a heart, a metaphor perhaps for the love and kindness that we could all find if we looked below the surface, and a reminder that even the most unloved and misunderstood are deserving and capable of affection. Given the long-standing association between the rat and contagion we might even interpret this gesture as a call to arms, to let this more positive, affirming message of love and reconciliation spread through all levels of society.

Appearing in a range of different guises and often under slogans such as ‘Welcome to Hell’, ‘Tonight the Streets are Ours’, and ‘Get Out While You Can’, Banksy’s rats are messengers from the underworld, carrying stark warnings about the injustices and exploitation of modern life, felt especially keenly by those at the margins. In this respect, they also belong to a longer history of social critique, notably evoked by Albert Camus as carriers of a deeper, moral malaise in La Peste and as a vehicle for exploring humanity’s capacity for brutality in H.P. Lovecraft. For psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, they presented a compelling model for psychodynamic feelings of gnawing guilt and shame provoked by displaced but intrusive taboo thoughts in one of his more famous case studies. In all cases, it is the rat’s uncomfortable proximity to us that makes them such powerful carriers of our repressed fears and desires.

Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, central panel (detail), 1490-1500, Museo del Prado, Madrid

Tellingly, in the context of street art, the rat has also been a prominent motif for French graffiti artist and ‘Father of stencil art’ Blek le Rat since the very outset of his career in 1981. Credited as the first artist to develop stencil graffiti away from basic lettering to incorporate more complex imagery, it was the rat – ‘the only free animal in the city’ – that the artist first took to the streets of Paris. For both Banksy and Blek le Rat the rodent personifies the covert operations of the street artist, working under cover of darkness and under constant threat from authorities who deem them to be a public menace, associations compounded by the appealing wordplay existing between ‘art’ and ‘rat’. The rat, like the street artist can expose uncomfortable truths about the world we live in and the systems that structure it, and yet Banksy’s stenciled rats also represent a playful and mischievous aspect of the artist’s guerilla activities, appearing frequently in dialogue with existing street furniture and signage, even making a chaotic and light-hearted appearance in the artist’s own home during the throes of the various pandemic lockdowns.

Exclamation Rat, 2003

Sotheby’s London: 18 April 2023
Estimated: GBP 220,000 – 320,000
GBP 279,400 / USD 346,994

Exclamation Rat | Contemporary Curated | 2023 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY (b. 1974)
Exclamation Rat, 2003
Spray paint on canvas
40 x 30.5 cm (15 3/4 x 12 inches)
Tagged on the overturn edge

A mischievous example of Banksy’s satirical and highly sought after animal stencils, Exclamation Rat is an iconic image that encapsulates the artist’s rebellious visual language. A riff on the artist’s Gangsta Rat motif – with the addition of a bold red exclamation mark – the rat in the present work dons a chain and cap and is replete with a boombox, thus mimicking the underground street style prevalent in the late 1980s and 1990s. Gangsta Rat was reproduced as murals in Farringdon in 2004, Old Street in 2006 and New York City in 2013, becoming one of Banksy’s most recognizable street art tags. Exclamation Rat showcases Banksy’s distinctive use of stenciling; iconic for disrupting art historical convention. Given the importance of rats in the artist’s iconography, Banksy has completed a surprisingly few number of originals with the vermon as the main protagonist, making the present work a rare example of Banksy’s subversion of traditional canvas painting.

Banksy’s creative process is a nod to Warholian Pop Art portraits and the Duchampian ready-made. In order to produce his renegade site-specific works, the artist developed a staple stenciling technique to allow for lightning-quick application, without compromising the intricacy of the image. Banksy’s considered choice of stenciling as a mode of artistic production has significance beyond pragmatic considerations: the practice has long been associated with underground political movements and punk anti-establishment culture, as it enables visually striking images that can be reproduced quickly, cheaply and by anyone. This is thus the demystification and democratization of the art world, as Banksy underpins the notion that art should be for the people. The vandalizing impulse of his work -whether spray painting a street wall or defacing a masterpiece – ultimately serves as a mirror: we are quick to condemn such acts yet fail to recognize the numerous other ways in which we stifle our own society and culture.

Rat & Heart, 2014

Sotheby’s London: 3 March 2023
Estimated: GBP 500,000 – 700,000
GBP 579,600 / USD 772,079

Rat & Heart | Modern & Contemporary Day Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY (b. 1974)
Rat & Heart, 2014
Spray paint, emulsion and collage on board, in artist’s inner frame
27×36 cm (10 5/8 x 14 1/8 inches)
Signed and dedicated on the reverse

Hidden in alleyways and moving in anonymity through the most undesired routes of the urban environment, the rat is a potent symbol for the neglected and unseen, and are amongst the most prolific motifs in Banksy’s oeuvre. Hunted down by authorities, considered nuisances by society, and looked down upon by the establishment, Banksy and street art seem to form a sense of comradery with the rats. Banksy’s rats carry paint brushes and spray paint cans, accompanied by phrases such as “Our time will come” or “Get out while you can.” Other times, they are simply jamming with a stereo or snapping a photo. Voicing his messages through these small, playful and rebellious creatures, the artist humorously invites us to join their underground revolution. In the present work, the rat has gnawed out a heart through the cardboard. A small but affectionate gesture, the rat conveys a message of love. Coming from the most unloved creatures of the city, the work is a particularly touching statement, offering consolation from the brutal realities of modern life. At the heart of Banksy’s practice is hope for a better future, executed through moments of comical, ridiculous and at times heart-warming illustrations.

Love Rat on palette, 2003

Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 28 April 2022
Estimated: HKD 6,000,000 – 9,000,000
HKD 6,300,000 / USD 802,916

Banksy 班克斯 | Love Rat on palette 愛鼠木板 | Contemporary Day Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY (b. 1974)
Love Rat on palette, 2003
Spray paint on wooden palette
60×50 cm (23 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches)

Gangsta Rat Peace, 2007

Phillips New-York: 24 June 2021
Estimated: USD 500,000 – 700,000
USD 529,200

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporary A… Lot 350 June 2021 | Phillips

Animated and satirical, Banksy’s Gangsta Rat Peace, 2007, exemplifies the allusive artist’s dedication to social commentary and refined graffiti practice. Originally from Bristol, England, the street artist began utilizing stencils in 2000 as a means of quick reproduction to escape authorities while vandalizing the streets of London. Now, however, Banksy has embraced the once pragmatic technique as part of his trademark style.

One of Banksy’s most iconic and prolific subjects, the rat, an anagram for “art,” has taken on several different iterations, often assuming the role of a protestor holding up signs with phrases such as “Get Out While You Can” and “Because I’m Worthless.” While rats are typically associated with the grime of urban life and rejected by the larger public with disgust, Banksy gives the rodent an intriguing narrative. In Gangsta Rat, the subject pays homage to the urban art scene in the 1980s and 90s sporting a side-ways New York Mets hat and a thick chain while hoisting a boombox.

Loyal to his roots as a street artist, Banksy’s asserts his own critique of the art world through his art making.  Perhaps the most famously witnessed of his satirical stunts was his Crude Oils show in London in 2005. The show consisted of “re-mixed” masterpieces by Monet, Warhol and Van Gogh. Most outrageous was the accompaniment of about 200 live rats left to roam free throughout the exhibition—a physical manifestation of Banksy’s spray-painted rat infestation throughout the city of London.

On the reverse of this double-sided work, Bansky includes a print of his work Morons, which illustrates a room bursting with properly attired civilians of high society bidding on a work at auction that cheekily exclaims, “I can’t believe you morons actually buy this shit.” Blatantly deeming the piece unworthy of such a high price, Banksy pokes fun at the idea that his work, once viewed as vandalization, is now considered “high art.”

Radar Rat, 2002

Sotheby’s New-York: 13 May 2021
Estimated: USD 100,000 – 150,000
USD 352,800

Radar Rat | Contemporary Art Day Auction | 2021 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY (b. 1974)
Radar Rat, 2002
Spray paint on cardboard
50.2 x 37.5 cm (19 3/4 x 14 3/4 inches)
This work is unique

Rendered in Banksy’s signature monochrome, stenciled style, Radar Rat is one of the mysterious street artist’s most prolific subjects. There is of course irony and satire embedded in Banksy’s depictions of the rat: the animal is emblematic of the urban landscape, and often met with disgust and fear. Here, however, Banksy shows the small creature from the streets as intelligent and discerning. First appearing in 2002, Banksy has since produced many variations of Radar Rat, from urban graffiti to paintings on canvas to bronze sculptures. The rat appears often in Banksy’s work, sometimes holding signs that read messages such as “Get Out While You Can” and “Welcome to Hell”; other times, painting a dripping red heart. The present lot is a unique iteration of Radar Rat, a singular format of the animal that iconically appears throughout his work. Radar Rat holds a tape recorder in one hand and a sonic radar in the other; he’s wearing headphones and looks past the viewer, over their left shoulder, intently. A master of surprising juxtapositions, Banksy’s satirical oeuvre has fueled his reception as a cultural phenomenon, with reach extending far beyond the art world alone. Radar Rat is an iconic image that utterly encapsulates Banksy’s mission, rife with parody and critique.

Vandalized/Crude Oils

Crude Oil (Vettriano), 2005

Sotheby’s London: 4 March 2025
Estimated: GBP 3,000,000 – 5,000,000
GBP 4,260,000 / USD 5,452,800

Crude Oil (Vettriano) | Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction | 2025 | Sotheby’s

BANKSY (b. 1974)
Crude Oil (Vettriano), 2005
Oil on canvas, in artist’s frame
Canvas: 91×122 cm (35 7/8 x 48 inches)
Tagged (lower right)
Signed, partially titled and dated Oct 2005 (on the overturn edge)

Crude Oil (Vettriano) stands as one of the most instantly recognizable and audacious works in Banksy’s provocative oeuvre – a rare, entirely hand-painted canvas that epitomises the artist’s role as a cultural agitator and sharp-witted social commentator. Rooted in the anti-establishment ethos of punk, Banksy’s output has always been a performative act of defiance; a rejection of the rigid structures of the art world and the institutions that dictate taste, cultural and commercial value. From his early days tagging the streets of Bristol to the guerrilla-style interventions that catapulted him into the international spotlight, his practice has remained a direct challenge to authority, hierarchy, and convention. Crude Oil (Vettriano) was first unveiled in Banksy’s landmark exhibition in 2005, Crude Oils: A Gallery of Re-mixed Masterpieces, Vandalism and Vermin, and sees Banksy remix an image deeply embedded in the canon of Modern British Painting: Jack Vettriano’s The Singing Butler from 1992: a scene of desirable elegance and a vision of romance set against the elemental force of wind and rain. Then and now, Banksy continues to teeter on the periphery of institutional acceptance. Fittingly bearing provenance worthy the rock and roll hall of fame, Crude Oil (Vettriano) has resided in the collection of blink-182 frontman Mark Hoppus since 2011: a performer whose own thirty-year long career has been shaped by the same irreverent, outsider spirit that defines Banksy’s work.

Jack Vettriano, The Singing Butler, 1992

A couple, dressed in evening attire, waltz barefoot across a desolate beach, their poised movements seemingly impervious to the storm that rages around them. Bathed in a golden light that defies the overcast sky. The Singing Butler captures an atmosphere of escapist fantasy, its dreamlike quality resonating with an audience drawn to its fusion of nostalgia, glamour, and quiet defiance of reality. Here, recasting Vettriano’s elegantly attired dancers against a backdrop of environmental devastation, Banksy replaces Vettriano’s genteel nostalgia with a dystopian vision that speaks to contemporary anxieties. Vettriano’s popular painting has been painstakingly re-invented by Banksy, now featuring a sinking oil liner and two men in hazmat suits wheeling a barrel of toxic waste. Scalding the art world with humour and irony, Banksy delivers a complex dialogue that tackles prescient issues of our time, such as the environment, pollution, and the capitalist landscape. In this act of visual disruption, Crude Oil (Vettriano) embodies the very principles that define Banksy’s practice: an irreverent yet deeply considered challenge to the structures of power, taste, and authority that govern the art world and beyond.

“If you want to survive as a graffiti writer when you go indoors your only option is to carry on painting over things that don’t belong to you there either.”

By appropriating The Singing Butler and subverting its idyllic imagery, Crude Oil (Vettriano) operates as a wry commentary on both the sanitisation of popular culture and the selective validation of artistic legitimacy. One of the most widely disseminated pictures of a generation, The Singing Butler became the most expensive painting ever sold at auction by a Scottish artist when it achieved £744,800 at Sotheby’s in 2004, the record price for any painting sold in Scotland at the time. The sale, however, was met with an air of ambivalence from the art world establishment, a sentiment captured in The Guardian’s headline the following day: “Painting by ridiculed but popular artist sells for £744,800” (The Guardian, 20 April 2004, online). Vettriano’s disconnection between his enthusiastic reception by the masses – confirmed by the longevity of the picture and the myriad of paraphernalia emblazoned with The Singing Butler  –  and rejection by the art establishment struck a nerve with Banksy, who has long assailed the hegemony of the art world elite.

London, 100 Westbourne Grove, Crude Oils: A Gallery of Re-mixed Masterpieces, Vandalism and Vermin, October 2005 © Banksy

In 2005, Banksy staged his first conventional gallery exhibition, the now seminal Crude Oils: A Gallery of Re-mixed Masterpieces, Vandalism and Vermin, a radical intervention in the traditional exhibition format that remains a defining moment in his career. Held in a disused shop on Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill, the show marked Banksy’s transition into a more formal gallery setting while maintaining the subversive ethos of his antics in the streets. Crude Oil (Vettriano) was prominently displayed in the window, immediately setting the tone for an exhibition that challenged the hierarchies of the art world. Now considered a milestone in the artist’s oeuvre, the show featured Crude Oil (Vettriano) alongside three other fully hand-painted ‘remixes’ of canonical works: a despondent, bloomless version of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers; a reinterpretation of Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks in which a Union Jack-clad hooligan shatters the bar’s glass window; and Show Me the Monet, a caustic reimagining of Claude Monet’s idyllic Japanese footbridge, transformed into a scene of contemporary detritus. Despite his immense popularity, Vettriano, much like Banksy, remains conspicuously absent from major institutional collections, a disconnect that sharply highlights the enduring schism between mass appeal and critical discord. For Banksy, this cultural paradox – where an artist’s work is revered by the public yet dismissed by the art world elite – has long served as a source of fascination and critique. By placing Vettriano’s The Singing Butler in direct dialogue with Van Gogh, Hopper, and Monet – artists firmly embedded in the institutional canon – Banksy staged a deliberate provocation, questioning the arbiters of taste and the exclusionary nature of the art establishment.

Across the gallery’s back wall of the shop, these large-scale reinterpretations were juxtaposed with a series of modified found paintings; traditional oil canvases sourced from flea markets and altered by Banksy to reflect the social anxieties of contemporary Britain. Quaint pastoral landscapes were interrupted by burning cars and police tape; a Renaissance Madonna and Christ child casually listened to an iPod; refined portrait sitters were recast as gas mask-clad figures. Further extending this anarchic approach, Banksy also ‘vandalised’ classical sculpture, transforming a serene Venus into a tattooed figure with a traffic cone over her head and outfitting a marble bust with a military-style balaclava. Yet perhaps the exhibition’s most outrageous gesture lay not in its visual content, but in its live component: 164 rats released into the space, their scurrying presence reinforcing the exhibition’s underlying spirit of disorder and defiance. Crude Oils was not simply an exhibition but an irreverent and punk manifesto, a statement that art, much like the rodents that roamed its floors, refuses to be contained by convention.

Louise Jury, “Rats to the Arts Establishment,” The Independent, 14 October 2005

In his Sunday Times Culture review of the 2005 exhibition, Waldemar Januszsak compared Banksy’s Crude Oils to a Surrealist or situationist happening, describing the production as an elaborate and engaging mise en scene: “So, the scene has been set, the evocation evoked. We’re in a dilapidated museum overrun by rats that have eaten the attendant and set a melodramatic post-Holocaust mood that continues into the paintings” (Waldemar Januszsak, ‘Who’s afraid of the big bad guy?’, The Sunday Times, 23 October 2005, p. 9).

Waldemar Januszczak, “Who’s afraid of the big bad guy?” The Sunday Times, 16 October 2005

Couched in humor, it is precisely this mood that pits Banksy beyond the cynical punster he is often perceived to be. Crude Oil (Vettriano) and the wider Crude Oils brilliantly attest to this. Indeed, from the mid-2000s onwards, Banksy began tackling an overt geopolitical agenda with increasing intent. Despite the cynical puns and sharp punchlines, there is an authenticity to Banksy’s project. This is what makes his work so powerful, appealing, and ultimately what will see him stand the test of time. Though retaining anonymity in order to continue making street art that is deemed illegal, he is widely discussed in the media and appreciated well beyond the usual confines of the art world. A vigilante painter of our times, Banksy has adopted a heroic position for his own generation and those to come.

MARCEL DUCHAMP, MONA LISA (L.H.O.O.Q.), 1919
PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART, PHILADELPHIA
IMAGE: © 2020 THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART/ART RESOURCE/SCALA, FLORENCE
ARTWORK: © ASSOCIATION MARCEL DUCHAMP / ADAGP, PARIS AND DACS, LONDON 2025 www.scalarchives.com

Via an unapologetic appropriation of its established icons and historical movements, Banksy engages a direct dialogue with other punk and provocative players throughout art history. Banksy’s appropriation and subversion of Vettriano’s The Singing Butler finds its conceptual precedent in the work of Marcel Duchamp, particularly his seminal 1919 piece L.H.O.O.Q. In this infamous intervention, Duchamp defaced a mass-produced postcard of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa by adding a moustache and goatee, undermining the sanctity of one of Western art’s most revered icons. The work’s title, when vocalized in French, forms a crude pun, further destabilizing traditional notions of beauty and cultural veneration. By targeting the Mona Lisa, Duchamp satirized the bourgeois cult of Jocondisme – a phenomenon of early twentieth-century France in which the Mona Lisa was idolized as a symbol of artistic and national heritage.

John Higginson, “A warning for the ratist in residence,” Metro, 14 October 2005

Banksy’s engagement with Vettriano operates within this same lineage of irreverent critique, aligning with the Dadaist tradition of dismantling artistic hierarchies. Much like Punk, Dada is a rejection of rationality and logic, a movement that praises intuition, and that relinquishes, opposes, negates all forms of control from art critiques to politicians.

Mark Hoppus photographed with the present work in his home in Los Angeles, February 2025

Growing up in Southern California, Mark Hoppus found a sense of belonging in the countercultural communities of skateboarding and punk music, where self-expression and rebellion against the mainstream were central tenets. His first significant encounter with fine art came through an art history course in college, where a passionate professor illuminated punk rock radicalism embedded in works from Caravaggio to Jackson Pollock. A field trip to LACMA and MOCA introduced him to the broader possibilities of contemporary art, but it was the Helter Skelter: LA Art in the 90s exhibition that delivered a pivotal revelation – Raymond Pettibon who was behind American punk rock band Black Flag’s iconic album covers, was featured in a major museum show. This moment crystallised for Mark the interconnectedness of punk, street art, and the institutional art world.Years later, this connection was reaffirmed when he attended Art in the Streets at MOCA in Los Angeles, an exhibition that marked a turning point in the legitimisation of graffiti and street art. The show included work by Shepard Fairey, Kenny Scharf, and Banksy, among others, celebrating artists who had transitioned from the underground to the institutional stage. In Mark’s home, surrounded by music, skateboarding, and counterculture, Crude Oil (Vettriano) became more than an artwork; it was a lived presence and daily reminder of the shared lineage between punk, street art, and the DIY ethos that unites them. In Mark’s collection, over time, Crude Oil (Vettriano) came to encapsulate the very notion of life imitating art, a testament to the enduring power of subversion, rebellion, and the refusal to conform.

Subject to Availability, 2011

Sotheby’s Diriyah: 8 February 2025
Estimated: USD 800,000 – 1,200,000
USD 1,200,000

Subject to Availability | Origins | 2025 | Sotheby’s

BANKSY (b. 1974)
Subject to Availability, 2011
Oil and spray paint on canvas in an artist’s frame
50×91 cm (19 5/8 x 35 7/8 inches)
Signed Banksy (on the edge of the frame)

An outstanding example of Banksy’s celebrated series of Vandalized Oil paintings, Subject to Availability reflects the artist’s career-long practice of infusing his works with satire to both subvert the fine art establishment and comment on many of today’s most pressing sociopolitical issues. Atop a serene Hudson River School painting of a pastoral landscape dotted with pine trees leading into snowcapped mountains above, Banksy inserts an asterisk near the top of the mountain, captioning the work “*Subject to availability for a limited period only.” In the spirit of many of the members of the Hudson River School, Banksy wittily remarks that these very mountaintops that were once so revered are now at risk of extinction, their snowy peaks and lush surroundings diminishing as we push our natural world to the brink.

Born and raised in Bristol, England, Banksy has achieved a mythical status that teeters between acclaim and notoriety for his distinctive style of satirical street art and graffiti. His work is rich in dark humor and frequently captioned with subversive epigrams that provide commentaries on socio-political aspects of contemporary life. Seeking to disrupt the status-quo through his anti-establishmentarian practice, Banksy has epitomised his own mission saying: “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” Regularly upending the norms of the art world while maintaining a decidedly outsider presence as an anonymous artist, Banksy’s practice operates on the edge of fine and street art, often integrating the two as one. Banksy’s initial forays into the fine art world began with the exhibition of his Crude Oils series in 2005, paintings that “re-mixed” masterpieces like Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks and Vincent Van Gogh’s sunflowers with dark, often surreal elements. Banksy would later expand upon these appropriations in his Vandalized Oils series, of which the present work is part of, taking generic landscapes fashioned by other artists and subtly infusing them with social commentary.

Albert Bierstadt, Mount Corcoran, c. 1876-1877, The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Image © Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund / Bridgeman Images

Global neglect of our natural surroundings has long been a source of concern to Banksy, whose work often comments on pressing contemporary sociopolitical issues including police brutality, anti-war activism and the global refugee crisis. At the end of the The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference that failed to reach an agreement, Banksy painted the words “I don’t believe in global warming” sinking into the water of Regent’s Canal in London, a reference at climate change skeptics’ willingness to deny environmental changes despite seeing them in front of their eyes. Most recently, in May of 2024, Banksy unveiled a mural in North London’s Finsbury Park directly behind a tree that had been heavily pruned by the city just as the Spring season was beginning. Behind the tree, Banksy spray painted a person who is themself seemingly spray painting green back onto the tree’s limbs to replace its lost leaves, commenting on the artificial steps mankind has begun to take to feign a kind of normalcy even in a world where our environment is gradually degrading to the point of no return.

Subject to Availability extends this tradition into the gallery space, connecting a phrase typically associated with consumerism to the natural surroundings that have been impeded by this same capitalist-driven society. While from a distance, the painting solely appears as a generic and idyllic landscape, a discerning eye immediately captures the text emblazoned on the work as a built-in caption, a phrase typically used for cheap, tradeable goods and promotions that has been refashioned, much like the painting itself, to imply nature’s own slow demise. While nature is seen in the painting laden with a Romantic grandiosity typical of the late 19th and early 20th century and mankind’s interpretation of our natural surroundings at the time, it has now been diminished to nothing more than an expiring asset.

Marcel Duchamp, L.H.O.O.Q., 1919. Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris. Art © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris / Estate of Marcel Duchamp

Further solidifying Subject to Availability’s importance within Banksy’s oeuvre, the painting was featured in the seminal 2011 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles Art in the Streets, the first major U.S. museum survey of graffiti and street art. The exhibition, curated by former MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch, sought to trace the development of the long-overlooked movement from its inception in the 1970s to its present iterations, and would end up heavily contributing to a global reappraisal of street art as a legitimate art form in and of itself. Banksy’s involvement in the show was especially significant, as he made a special arrangement with the museum for his crew to work late at night with the security cameras shut off after everyone else had left the building. Banksy then created a new show within his previous installation, disrupting what had previously been seen by museumgoers by not only moving his sculptures around but by also installing new works onto the walls, one of which included the present work. The subversive gag at the heart of the Vandalised Oils series is that these gilt-framed works might hang in a museum or esteemed private gallery and pass unnoticed to the unobservant spectator. Indeed, Banksy’s history of intervention in the scared space of the museum in this manner extends back to his early 2000s pranks at institutions like the Tate Britain in London, where he entered in disguise and hung his own artwork alongside nineteenth-century paintings, managing to keep his work undetected for hours. Later, in 2004, Banksy installed a “vandalised” version of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in a gag that similarly disrupted the institutionalized space and the museum’s most iconic work. Subject to Availability thus serves as the natural apotheosis of this impulse to disrupt this space that is so often bogged down by bureaucracy and the rules of its governing body, finally receiving permission to do so from the museum and turning himself into the curator who has free reign to install his work as he wishes.

The present work shown at right in the second iteration of Banksy’s installation in Art in the Streets, MoCA, Los Angeles, 2011
Images © designboom

Banksy’s “vandalization” of another artist’s work also refers to a deep art historical lineage of artists’ reframing the work of their forebears, especially as can be seen in the Dadaist work of Marcel Duchamp and his infamous 1919 work L.H.O.O.Q, for which Duchamp drew a moustache and goatee on a cheap postcard reproduction of the world’s most famous painting, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. One might also recall Robert Rauschenberg’s Erased de Kooning Drawing, consisting of a work Rauschenberg took from the artist and then erased, reframing it as his own and putting to question the boundaries of what constitutes an artwork and who has ultimate authorship over one. The Vandalised Oils also take precedent from Asger Jorn’s tactic of detournement, for which a pre-existing image was subverted through the insertion of a new dissonant element. The most apposite example for Banksy’s work is Jorn’s series of ‘modification’ paintings; overpainted pictures originally bought in junk shops, many of which now reside in prestigious museum collections worldwide.

In the same way that Banksy “vandalizes” public spaces by graffiting them with his work, Subject to Availability sees the artist using the same precedent on the painted image, forcing audiences to reckon with how they have sought to both safeguard and build up the manmade world while the natural one continues to suffer at its expense. A masterful combination of social commentary, art historical precedent, and satire, Subject to Availability represents the unique opportunity of acquiring a work that combines so many of the pioneering facets of Banksy’s practice that have made the artist as infamous as he is today.

Congestion Charge, 2004

Bonhams London: 29 June 2023
Estimated: GBP 1,200,000 – 1,800,000
GBP 1,681,900 / USD 2,121,735

Bonhams : BANKSY (B. 1974) Congestion Charge 2004

Home Sweet Home, 2006

Phillips London: 2 March 2023
Estimated: GBP 1,500,000 – 2,500,000
GBP 1,742,000 / USD 

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporary A… Lot 21 March 2023 | Phillips

No stranger to staging interventions in public space and sparking debates about its uses and abuses, in 2009 Banksy took this practice indoors for the landmark exhibition Banksy vs The Bristol Museum. Taking over the historical building and its collection, Banksy transformed the space into ‘a menagerie of Unnatural History’, disrupting the curatorial logic of the museum as a way of provoking a conversation around who decides which objects belong in museums and why. Alongside larger installations and sculptural pieces ‘adjusted’ in characteristic Banksy fashion, the exhibition took advantage of its location to place objects from the collection into direct dialogue with examples of Banksy’s Vandalized Oils series, radically extending the underlying premise of this body of work as a witty challenge to the art historical canon and the broader cultural assumptions that it maintains. Loaned by the current owner to the Moca Museum in Barcelona, Home Sweet Home has also been included in some of Banksy’s most notorious exhibitions including his Los Angeles debut, Barely Legal and Banksy vs the Bristol Museum.

Set within a heavy gilt frame evoking museum walls and Old Master paintings, the work is composed of an appropriated canvas featuring a bucolic and typically English landscape complete with a chocolate box cottage and a lilting stone bridge over a gently running stream in a manner that directly references John Constable’s The Hay Wain – a quintessential image of both England and Englishness as it exists in popular imagination. Brightly colored and richly detailed, the work has something of a Disney idealism to it, further emphasizing the gap between fantasy and reality in definitions of England or ‘Home’ today. Unlike some of the Vandalized Oils in which the subversive message is spraypainted over the canvas with the aid of a stencil, Home Sweet Home is a rare example of Banksy’s hand-painted additions, comparable to its sister painting, Exit Through the Gift Shop, which was installed alongside the present work in the Banksy vs Bristol exhibition.

John Constable, The Hay Wain, 1821, The National Gallery, London. Image: © The National Gallery, London/Scala, Florence

In its clever combination of humor, appropriation, and the pointed conflation of so-called high and low art forms, Home Sweet Home follows in the disruptive mode of Situationist artists such as Asger Jorn. Appropriating reproductions of well-known paintings and the canvases of amateur artists, Jorn applied thick, gestural marks and compositional additions, altering the meaning communicated by the original work in the process. Following Jorn, Banksy’s recontextualization of these original canvases serves to emphasize that ‘the meaning of old-fashioned paintings had not yet been exhausted but could be renewed by means of new and unexpected pictorial inserts.’

“The vandalised paintings reflect life as it is now. We don’t live in a world like Constable’s Haywain anymore and, if you do, there is probably a travellers’ camp on the other side of the hill. The real damage done to our environment is not done by graffiti writers and drunken teenagers, but by big business… exactly the people who put gold-framed pictures of landscapes on their walls and try to tell the rest of us how to behave.”

Finding innovative ways to translate a graffiti sensibility onto canvas, the defaced oil paintings represent a significant moment in the development of Banksy’s practice, and of the scope of his institutional critique. They also shine a light on our definitions of the notion of vandalism itself. Typically defined as a negative and anti-social act, ‘vandalism’ is the catch-all term used to describe the work of graffiti artists and used to punish offenders by law. Embracing these definitions, Banksy’s Home Sweet Home extends the guerrilla tactics that he honed as a street artist, speaking truth to power and asking pointed and pertinent questions about the distinctions between preservation and vandalism, and who, ultimately polices such distinctions.

Sorry The Lifestyle You Ordered Is Currently Out Of Stock, 2012

Phillips London: 14 October 2022
Estimated: GBP 1,200,000 – 1,800,000
GBP 1,837,500 / USD 2,059,977

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporary… Lot 21 October 2022 | Phillips

Audacious and provocative, in Sorry The Lifestyle You Ordered Is Currently Out Of Stock guerrilla street artist Banksy collapses high culture and street art, applying the pointed satire of his site-specific graffiti to a direct critique of the connections between the art market, consumer capitalism, and environmental issues. Set within a heavy gilt frame evoking museum walls and Old Master paintings, the work is composed of an appropriated canvas featuring a romantic mountain landscape, defaced with the slogan ‘Sorry The lifestyle you ordered is currently out of stock’ and attached to a densely spraypainted board behind. Uniting these different elements within the work Banksy forges unexpected dialogues between them, communicating his message with characteristic economy and wit.

Asger Jorn, Hirschbrunft im Wilden Kaiser (Deer in Heat in the Wilder Kaiser), 1960,
Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen, Berlin. Image: Scala, Florence/bpk, Bildagentur fuer Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin, Artwork: © Donation Jorn, Silkeborg / DACS, London 2022

In it’s a clever combination of humor, appropriation, and the pointed conflation of so-called high and low art forms, Sorry The Lifestyle You Ordered Is Currently Out Of Stock follows in the disruptive mode of Situationist artists such as Asger Jorn. Appropriating reproductions of well-known paintings and the canvases of amateur artists, Jorn applied thick, gestural marks and compositional additions, altering the meaning communicated by the original work in the process. Borrowing the vocabulary of advertising and consumerism to identify the hypocrisy involved in promoting a discourse of England as a ‘green and pleasant land’ while allowing profit-seeking enterprises to simultaneously dismantle that landscape, the work is a product of what Gianni Mercurio has described as Banksy’s mode of ‘brandalism’: ‘a rebellion against the great corporations that manage our lives, our forms of consumption, even the space in which we live, through choices that are exclusively aimed at making profit.’

First appearing in a large-scale stenciled work on the side of an empty building on the corner of East India Dock Road in London’s East End in 2011, the text ‘Sorry! The lifestyle you ordered is currently out of stock’ playfully wraps political commentary in the familiar language of commodity consumption. Although simple, the interaction of the message with its location made a powerfully pointed statement about gentrification in the East End, and the wild property speculation that followed the closure of the docks in the early 1980s. Littered with estate agent boards, the abandoned building appears to have been a casualty of this aggressive growth, stalled when the 2008 financial crisis started to bite. Ironically invoking slogans associated with our own consumer experience, Banksy shifts our focus out to a more global level, using the familiar to open our eyes to global inequalities and existing power structures that operate in the background of our day to day lives. Having applied it in a critique of the economic forces and social inequalities played out in urban space, Banksy quickly adopted the slogan in a sharp critique of the art world, most pointedly in his 2013-14 collaboration with fellow Bristol-born artist Damien Hirst, defacing an immediately recognisable Spot Painting  with grey spray paint and overlaid with the same white text we see in the present work. While this work played very deliberately with Hirst’s reputation as representative of the market forces driving contemporary art to record prices, Sorry The Lifestyle You Ordered Is Currently Out Of Stock returned to an earlier conflation of art, the environment, and the ethics of late capitalism that Banksy first deployed in his infamous 2005 Crude Oils exhibition.

“The vandalised paintings reflect life as it is now. We don’t live in a world like Constable’s Haywain anymore and, if you do, there is probably a travellers’ camp on the other side of the hill. The real damage done to our environment is not done by graffiti writers and drunken teenagers, but by big business… exactly the people who put gold-framed pictures of landscapes on their walls and try to tell the rest of us how to behave.”

Littered with stenciled cctv cameras, rubbish, burnt-out cars, and military helicopters, the broader group of ‘vandalised paintings’ to which the present work belongs made their first appearance alongside some 200 live rats in a disused commercial space in London’s affluent Notting Hill in Banksy’s Crude Oils exhibition. In their own way, these works are highly representative of our contemporary landscape, Sorry The Lifestyle You Ordered Is Currently Out Of Stock in particular articulating something that might not be visible, but is keenly felt in a period of economic and socio-cultural upheaval. Evoking the language of high culture and advertising and exposing the ways in which both are exploited by the dominant hegemonic order as tools for exercising and maintaining power, Banksy attacks established value systems and exposes the hypocrisy and disingenuity that characterize the times we live in. Finding innovative ways to translate a graffiti sensibility onto canvas, the defaced oil paintings represent a significant moment in the development of Banksy’s practice, and of the scope of his institutional critique. In the words of the artist, ‘if you want to survive as a graffiti writer when you go indoors your only option is to carry on painting over things that don’t belong to you.’

This is Not a Photo Opportunity, 2007

Sotheby’s New-York: 19 May 2022
Estimated: USD 2,000,000 – 3,000,000
USD 2,690,000 / USD 2,079,751

This is Not a Photo Opportunity | The Now Evening Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
This is Not a Photo Opportunity, 2007
Spray paint on found oil painting, in artist’s frame
62×72 cm (24.1 x 28.1 inches)

Distilling his signature criticality of society’s predilections into a lush pastoral scene and stenciled deadpan phrase, This is not a photo opportunity demonstrates the enduring prescience of Banksy’s practice. Part of his Vandalized Oils series, the present work juxtaposes contemporary graffiti and stenciling with the archetypal painted landscape. Disrupting art historical convention, the piece also sees a Duchampian appropriation, with a found painting serving as the basis for Banksy’s mocking chide. Created several years before the formation of social media platforms such as Instagram, This is not a photo opportunity has increased resonance today, as the taking and sharing of photos has become a pivotal part of the formation of contemporary identity.

THOMAS COLE, VIEW FROM MOUNT HOLYOKE, NORTHAMPTON, 1836. IMAGE © THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK / ART RESOURCE, NY

Nestled within a gilded frame, the present work sees a quaint and slightly saccharine rural landscape lovingly rendered by the since-forgotten “Randall,” whose signature is readily legible in the lower right corner of the work. Superimposed over this John Constable-inspired idyll is Banksy’s rebuke, sprayed in white across the canvas: “This is not a photo opportunity.” This phrase has been used many times in Banksy’s urban interventions over the years, on the South Bank of the Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament, or at a viewpoint overlooking the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Indeed, Martin Bull’s monograph on the artist’s most notable street artworks shares the title of the present work, attesting to its emblematic importance.

Vandalised Oil (Choppers), 2005

Sotheby’s London: 3 March 2022
Estimated: GBP 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
GBP 4,384,900 / USD 5,861,382

Vandalised Oil (Choppers) | The Now Evening Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
Vandalised Oil (Choppers), 2005
Oil and spraypaint on canvas
94×61 cm (37×24 inches)

Weaponised helicopters thud into view above a peaceful Claude Lorrain-esque pastoral scene; a traditional oil painting is vandalized with passages of black and khaki spray paint; Vandalised Oil (Choppers) is a brutal and immediate painting that typifies the impact and aggression that characterizes the best of Banksy’s work. Coming from the collection of British pop icon Robbie Williams, the present work is one of the very best examples of the Vandalized Oils series, and one of only a handful to have been reproduced in Banksy’s only official monograph, Wall and Piece. In its appreciation we are reminded not only of how effective and how funny the concetto at the heart of the Vandalised Oils is, but also of Banksy’s tireless focus on various social issues, most pertinently his anti-war message.

Although the present painting borrows the iconography of the Vietnam war, with the choppers appearing like something out of Apocalypse Now, in the context of mid-2000s Britain, it seems to speak more pertinently to the Iraq war. Banksy shows Western military technology spoiling a landscape. The artist had been particularly vocal in his anti-war messages during this period, and famously gave out stenciled placards at the London protests in 2003. He had also leant on and appropriated the imagery of the Vietnam war – so shocking in its immediacy and so seared into Western visual culture – for this art: one can think particularly of the Napalm (Can’t Beat the Feeling) print, in which the girl from Nick Ut’s Pulitzer prize winning photograph is shown holding hands with Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald. The present work neatly combines these two strands of his oeuvre to create a work that is subtler in its pernicious message.

Sunflowers from Petrol Station, 2005

Christie’s New-York: 8 November 2021
Estimated: USD 12,000,000 – 18,000,000
USD 14,558,000

BANKSY (christies.com)

BANKSY
Sunflowers from Petrol Station, 2005
Oil on canvas, in artist’s frame
102.6 x 87.5 cm (40.6 x 34.4 inches)

Held for its entire life in the collection of legendary British fashion designer Sir Paul Smith, Sunflowers from Petrol Station is an icon within Banksy’s oeuvre. Witty, irreverent and subversive, it offers a wry reimagining of Vincent Van Gogh’s celebrated Sunflowers, transforming the Dutch master’s radiant yellow blooms into a cluster of dried, wilted stems. Against a backdrop of thickly-wrought impasto, dead petals accumulate around the base of the vase, which bears the artist’s name—in place of Van Gogh’s—in blue lettering. A rare and exquisitely rendered example of Banksy’s coveted hand-painted oils, the work formed part of the artist’s seminal 2005 exhibition Crude Oils: A Gallery of Re-mixed Masterpieces, Vandalism and Vermin in London. There, it took its place alongside other art-historical reworkings by Banksy, including Show me the Monet—a parody of Claude Monet’s Japanese Bridge paintings—as well as alternative versions of Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks and Jack Vettriano’s The Singing Butler. Acquired by Smith directly from the exhibition, it is an outstanding demonstration of Banksy’s virtuosity as a painter, and his acerbic flair as a satirist. Through the comedic pathos of withered petrol station flowers—a modern-day memento mori—the artist implicates the pollution of both art and nature at the hands of consumerism: neither, he warns, will last forever in its clutches.

BANKSY
Subject to Availability, 2009
Oil on canvas, in artist’s frame
159.5 x 220.3cm (62.7 x 86.7 inches)

Witty, satirical and timely, Subject to Availability is an important work from Banksy’s celebrated series of vandalised oil paintings. Hijacking an 1890 painting of Mount Rainier in Seattle by the German-American artist Albert Bierstadt, Banksy inserts an asterisk next to the volcano at the centre of the composition, captioning it ‘*subject to availability for a limited period only’. Bierstadt was a leading member of the Hudson River School, who railed against the industrial revolution’s destruction of nature. Operating over a century later, Banksy updates the political commentary of his forebear: the sweeping panorama, suffused with Romantic heroism and grandeur, is reduced to a terminal commodity, poised on the brink of expiry. Painted in 2009—the year of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen—the work was included in Banksy’s legendary exhibition Banksy versus Bristol Museum, alongside his monumental Devolved Parliament. Its message was hauntingly prophetic: in February 2020, Mount Rainier National Park was forced into temporary closure due to extreme flooding and mudslides. Humankind’s disregard for nature has long been a keen concern for Banksy, whose creations operate as a form of social commentary. Situated within a trajectory that extends from William Hogarth’s eighteenth-century satire to Grayson Perry’s ceramic vases, his works hold a mirror up to the world, frequently using humor as a means of speaking the truth to power. Over the years, Banksy has addressed a host of contemporary issues, including police brutality, knife crime, poverty, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Brexit, migration and—most recently—the COVID-19 pandemic. The environment is a recurring theme within this practice: in 2009, to mark the end of the Copenhagen conference, Banksy mocked climate change sceptics by painting the words ‘I don’t believe in global warming’ sinking into the water of Regent’s Canal in North London. In 2018, he painted a mural on the corner of a garage in the Welsh town of Port Talbot—home to one of Europe’s largest steelworks plants—depicting a young boy breathing in ash from a flaming skip. In the present work, Banksy’s deliberate nod to the Romantic era—a period that glorified the sublime majesty of nature—serves to underscore the tragic reality latent in his asterisked quip.

Barely Legal

Taking place in one of the US’s most divisive cities – a city where glamour, wealth and celebrity is matched by an equal dose of crime, poverty and homelessness – this hugely ambitious and now legendary exhibition heralded the arrival of Banksy on the global stage.

Trolley Hunters, 2006

Sotheby’s New-York: 18 November 2021
Estimated: USD 5,000,000 – 7,000,000
USD 6,698,400

Trolley Hunters | The Now Evening Auction | 2021 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
Trolley Hunters, 2006
Oil and emulsion on canvas
137×214 cm (53.9 x 84.2 inches)

Iconic, instantly recognizable, and caustically humorous, the work of legendary street artist Banksy continues to shock and satirize today. Featured in Barely Legal, Banksy’s seminal 2006 exhibition in Los Angeles that triggered widespread acclaim and recognition for the artist, Trolley Hunters is the perfect incarnation of Banksy’s distinctive marriage of street art, graffiti and satire. Featuring three prehistoric men in a desert, the atmosphere of Trolley Hunters is both eerie and lighthearted, its illustrative style belying the acerbic humor and depth of meaning of the painting. Holding various weapons, the three men pictured are poised to attack. The targets of their attack are, in typical Banksy fashion, trolleys – or shopping carts. The poignancy of the resulting work is twofold, firstly in its timeless critique of capitalism, and secondly in its unique and unexpected resonance today.

The trolley, comic in its incongruity, nods to our consumer society’s predilection for, and reliance on, highly processed, branded packaged food products, and our inability to fend for ourselves. Grouped like antelope in a field, the barren nature of the landscape in which we find these alien carts nods to our willingness to ship foods and other commodities all over the planet to be picked up whenever convenient by the consumer in the aisles of big chain supermarkets. With sardonic wit, Banksy juxtaposes his trolleys with a trio of Neanderthal hunter-gatherers, thereby shining a critical light on how far we as human beings have deviated from our base instincts, and abilities.

Original Concept for Barely Legal Poster (after Demi Moore), 2006

Sotheby’s London: 27 March 2021
Estimated: GBP 2,000,000 – 3,000,000
GBP 2,677,000 / USD 3,672,657

Original Concept for Barely Legal Poster (after Demi Moore) |《法律灰色地帶之海報原創概念（模仿狄美·摩亞）》 | Modern Renaissance: A Cross-Category Sale | 2021 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
Original Concept for Barely Legal Poster (after Demi Moore), 2006
Spray paint and emulsion on canvas
213 x 137.5 cm (83.9 x 54 inches)

Created in 2006 and used as the poster image for the artist’s landmark LA exhibition in September that year, Original Concept for Barely Legal Poster (After Demi Moore) is Banksy at his most outrageous. Featured on advertisements pasted around the city in the days leading up to the exhibition, this image was the perfect emblem for Banksy’s breakthrough US show: Barely Legal. Juxtaposed against a blue-sky backdrop of the famous Hollywood sign nestled in the iconic surrounding hills, the Barely Legal poster announced a self-proclaimed ‘three-day vandalized warehouse extravaganza’. The present work on canvas takes on one of the most famous and controversial images of Hollywood celebrity: Demi Moore’s iconic 1991 Vanity Fair cover. Featuring the idiosyncratic monkey mask – a disguise associated with Banksy himself and familiar to well-known images of the notoriously anonymous artist – this mischievous and brazen parody utterly encapsulates the daring humor at the heart of the artist’s breakthrough exhibition. Here an iconic image of contemporary celebrity finds subversion and a new purpose at the hands of one of the most important artistic voices of our time; its imagery standing as a perfect symbol for what is considered Banksy’s most significant exhibition to date.

Sale Ends Today, 2006

Christie’s Hong-Kong: 23 May 2021
Estimated: HKD 21,000,000 – 28,000,000
HKD 47,050,000 / USD 6,059,162

BANKSY (B. 1974) (christies.com)

BANKSY
Sale Ends Today, 2006
Oil on canvas
213.4 x 426.7cm (84×168 inches)

Ever since he emerged as a maverick figure in the 1990s Bristol graffiti scene, the enigmatic artist known as Banksy has been a chronicler of his time. His works have engaged with some of the twenty-first century’s most complex issues, offering daring moments of social observation, comedy and critique. He has painted on the West Bank barrier wall and on the streets of Gaza; his art has appeared at the Louvre, the Glastonbury Festival, London’s Southbank and the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. He has taken on giant corporations such as Disney and Tesco; he has reworked Leonardo, Monet and Van Gogh. His works have addressed everything from police brutality, knife crime and political tensions to climate change, consumerism and Brexit. Some—such as the girl hula-hooping with a bicycle wheel that appeared last year outside a beauty salon in Nottingham—have simply brought joy to local neighborhoods. Underpinning his practice is a belief that art, when dispersed freely among society, has the power to change the world for the better.

Created in 2006, Sale Ends Today plays out Banksy’s irreverent humor on epic scale. Across a vast white canvas more than four metres wide, he uses his trademark stencil technique to depict four kneeling women, who variously pray, collapse or throw up their hands in attitudes of lament. Wearing voluminous robes and veils, they would be at home as mourners in an Old Masterly portrayal of the deposition of Christ. Rather than the messiah, however, the object of the women’s distress is a more secular icon: a large red sign with white block capitals reading ‘SALE ENDS TODAY.’ With this wry parody of art history’s most storied subject matter, Banksy makes a biting comment on contemporary consumerism, which, he implies, rivals the zeal of religious devotion.

Youth and Innocence

Embodying innocence, hope, and an almost impossible to regain freedom of self-expression, the child is a recurring motif in Banksy’s work, familiar from his most iconic and immediately recognizable images. Drawing on this universal trope, the child is the perfect cipher for Banksy’s antiestablishment message, dramatically juxtaposing individual innocence with institutional corruption, income inequality with corporate greed and pointedly underscoring the uneven distribution of wealth and resources and the devastating human and generational impact of capitalist, neo-imperial economic ideologies played out on a global stage. Frequently referenced as the nation’s favorite artwork, Girl with Balloon is perhaps the most immediately obvious example of the multiple associations attached to the image of childhood while other works deal more directly with issues such as economic equality (Very Little Helps); the human cost of military force (Bomb Hugger, Napalm); government failure (Nola); and the social structures that foreshorten childhood, curbing imagination and play (No Ball Games, Jack and Jill).

Kids on Guns, 2004

Phillips London: 6 March 2025
Estimated: GBP 400,000 – 600,000
GBP 508,000 / USD 650,240

Banksy – Modern & Contemporary Art Eve… Lot 17 March 2025 | Phillips

Complete with his iconic stenciled imagery, brazen political satire and signature red heart balloon, Kids on Guns is prime example of Banksy’s controversial visual practice. Executed in 2003, the same year as his first major exhibition in the UK, Kids on Guns is one of the British street artist’s most recognizable early compositions, and part of an edition of just 25 works. The stark, shocking composition is in keeping with the artist’s enduring anti-war imagery, plainly delivering a universal commentary on contemporary issues such as terrorism, authority and capitalism.

“I like to think I have the guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy and call for things no-one else believes in – like peace and justice and freedom.”

The contrasting, punchy visuals barely conceal a more somber, hard-hitting reality, giving way to reveal the visual paradox of the two young children – the epitome of innocence – amidst the overflowing, violent weaponry. The young boy, clutching his teddy bear to his chest, appears to console the young girl, who carries the infamous red heart balloon that has since become a hallmark of Banksy’s trade. Their emotive depiction, juxtaposed against the sharp, jutting edges of the various guns and artillery at their feet, serves as a blatant critique of a global society riddled with conflict and aggression. The compositional arrangement, with the figures standing at the apex of a towering pile of symbolic violence, draws pronounced visual parallels with Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, the July 28^th, 1830, inspired by the bloody July revolution in Paris that saw the overthrow of Charles X. A renowned depiction of heroic rebellion, it became one of the artist’s most well-known and recognizable paintings, held in the permanent collection at the Louvre and, to this day, remains a work synonymous with themes of liberation, democracy and victory over oppression. The leading figure, a classical personification of liberty, brandishes a Tricolour, the crimson red of the flag recalling that of the balloon in the present work, and the tumultuous scene rises in a similar pyramidal arrangement of death and violence, delineated by the sharp protrusion rifles and bayonets. Kids on Guns bears a marked comparison with the 19^th Century masterpiece, both visually and conceptually, a contemporary reinterpretation that reiterates the same socio-political concerns that, tragically, endure nearly two centuries later with modern warfare. Laced with inherent undertones of violence, the iconography of the innocent children perhaps also provides an element of hope that humanity and compassion have the power to overcome conflict in the same way that liberty presided over Paris in Delacroix’s time.

Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, the July 28^th, 1830, 1830, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Image: Photo Josse/Scala, Florence

“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”

In October 2013, Banksy took part in an artist’s residency in New York City titled Better Out Than In, during which he set up a pop-up stall in Central Park that sold his works to oblivious tourists and passersby. An edition of Kids on Guns was one of the stenciled black and white canvases available, alongside a variety of other recognizable pieces such as Laugh Now and Love Is In the Air. The accessibility and availability of the works – priced at just $60 each – throws into sharp relief the artist’s witty and ironic take on the art market and wider art establishments. This exemplifies the artist’s militant attitude towards the workings of capitalist society more generally. Emerging from the upheaval of the political urban landscape on the ground in Bristol during the 1980s and early 1990s, Banksy’s practice was shaped by his rejection of authoritarian structure and societal brutality; radical and disruptive in his approach, these counter-culture ideologies define every aspect of his immensely satirical practice. Arguably one of the world’s most recognizable and renowned graffiti artists, his adopted, spray-painted visual language is born out of an institutional critique that retains its distinctive, anti-establishment energy.

Forgive Us Our Trespassing, 2011

Phillips London: 13 October 2023
Estimated: GBP 2,200,000 – 2,800,000
GBP 2,710,000 / USD 3,288,885

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporary… Lot 32 October 2023 | Phillips

Emphasizing the blend of linguistic dexterity and sharp social commentary that the anonymous street artist Banksy has become best known for over the years, Forgive Us Our Trespassing playfully evokes the Christian petition to ‘Forgive us our trespasses’, upending its meaning through the subtle substitution of one word for another.

Executed on a large scale and featuring a young child kneeling in prayer before a monumental Gothic stained-glass window with his head bowed towards his hands, the composition draws on the familiar iconography of devotional images, only to undercut this set of visual cues with the addition of contemporary urban clothing and the tools of the graffiti artist’s trade by the child’s side. His hoodie pulled up over a baseball cap, the child’s ‘trespassing’ here points to the fundamental action of graffiti and street art as a breaking of boundaries – both the physical boundaries of private property that is tagged in the process, and the questioning of societal rules that it often provokes.

[Left] Joshua Reynolds, The Little Samuel in Prayer, 1777, Musée Fabre, Montpellier. Image: © Photo Josse / Bridgeman Images
[Right] Detail of the present work

With its own long and often overlooked history stretching back to the Middle Ages, stained glass represents a fascinating aspect of our shared visual culture, and the role of images in communicating culturally important messages. Used almost exclusively in the decoration of churches and religious buildings before the 19^th century, stained glass proved to be a versatile and valuable material, aiding devotional contemplation in muting the outside world, controlling the flow of light, and illustrating key scenes from the Bible, the lives of the saints or as a means of honouring local guilds and other patrons. Alongside illuminated manuscripts, stained glass represents the only major form of pictorial art to have survived the centuries and emphasises the hugely important role played by visual narratives in communicating important messages embedded in texts that were otherwise illegible to the masses. Given the religious significance of light itself, the effects of the gently shifting and brilliantly colored patterns filtered through the glass was easily wedded to the ceremonial reverence of the space and its contemplative purpose, a testament to the skill of the artisans who worked on these stunning projects.

The north rose window of the Chartres Cathedral, Chartres. Image: PtrQs

Echoing the shape of Gothic Rose windows, the colorful panels that fill the vaulting frame of Forgive Us Our Trespassing are not the biblical scenes that typically animate stained glass windows, but the looping scrawls and tags of the graffiti artist. Creating his own visual narrative of the history of street art, we can even discern familiar tags including Jean-Michel Basquiat’s iconic skull and crown, and graffiti artist Amok’s recognizable insignia. Kneeling in prayer before this alternative altar, the young child in the foreground pays homage to this the icons of the past, perhaps even contributing to their legacies. Just as the work of medieval artisans gives us a window into the world in which they were created, Banksy seems to suggest here that the graffiti artist occupies an equivalent position, providing an important social commentary on our own times one for which, perhaps, they deserve to be forgiven.

An iconic Banksy image, the figure of the kneeling boy first appeared in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2010 and was used in the same year as one of the key images in the promotion of the artist’s film, Exit Through the Gift Shop. Coming to auction for the first time, the present work is one of only two compositions to feature the same pictorial elements, the first having achieved one of the highest prices at auction for the artist when it was sold in 2020. The smaller of the two, the present work was exhibited at Palazzo Cipola, Rome in 2016 and has been on long-term loan to the esteemed MOCO Museum in Barcelona, a testament to its significance, both within the context of Banksy’s practice, and in the broader landscape of contemporary art.

“Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better-looking place.”

In this context, the idea that a child could commit a sin (or a crime) in the act of being creative recasts graffiti and street art in quite a different light, Banksy proving highly adept at invoking certain assumptions, vocabulary, and beliefs in order to turn a mirror onto the hypocrisies and inequalities in our society. An image of the street artist as a child, Forgive Us Our Trespassing emphasizes the creativity and expressive freedom that graffiti represents, and the essential role that it plays in contemporary visual culture.

Dorothy I Don’t Think…, 2011

Christie’s London: 28 June 2023
Estimated: GBP 600,000 – 800,000
GBP 1,008,000 / USD 1,273,531

BANKSY (christies.com)

BANKSY
Dorothy I Don’t Think…, 2011
Spray paint on lino flooring laid on board
100×80 cm (39 3/8 x 31 1/2 inches)
Signed ‘BANKSY’ (lower right); signed and dated ‘BANKSY 11’ (on the reverse)

Held in the same private collection since it was acquired directly from the artist in 2011, Dorothy I Don’t Think … crackles with Banksy’s deadpan conceptual wit. Rare for its inclusion of the artist’s signature on both the front and reverse, the work depicts Dorothy—played by Judy Garland—and her dog Toto from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Below runs the phrase ‘I don’t think we’re on canvas anymore’: a pun on Dorothy’s iconic line ‘I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore’. Canvas, indeed, has vanished: instead the image is spray-painted on a slab of lino floor, underscored by a series of red dots. An earlier version of the work was included in Banksy’s infamous exhibition Banksy versus Bristol Museum (2009), in which he replaced the contents of the museum’s collection with his own works. In this iteration, which became the poster image for the show, the picture appeared on a sheet of paper suspended freely from the center of an empty frame.

Banksy’s dismissal of the canvas—the sacred site of painting—is bound up with his long-standing attack on art’s institutions and histories. He came to prominence at the turn of the millennium as a graffiti artist, fueled by a belief that art should live on the streets, and among the people. In 2002, he began a series of pranks upon museums, inserting his own irreverent creations into their hallowed halls. Over the following years he would vandalize canvases he found in car boot sales, and produce his own versions of famous paintings. His exhibition in Bristol was, in many ways, the culmination of these early initiatives. Underpinning them all was a common conviction: that the meaning of art did not reside in the fibres of the painted canvas. Instead, it lived and breathed in its interaction with the world around it. Just as Dorothy had exposed the Wizard of Oz as a fraud, so too did Banksy seek to dispel the smoke and mirrors of art’s false promises.

Spray paint and stencils had been Banksy’s signature medium since he was a teenager. They were the weapons of his guerrilla warfare, allowing him to work quickly and without detection by the authorities. By 2011, Banksy’s graffiti had delivered powerful social, cultural and political messages across the world, haunting sites from London’s Southbank to the West Bank barrier wall. While the present work makes reference to this practice, it also enters into subversive dialogue with the ghosts of art history. Dorothy’s face, with her tinted eyeshadow and lipstick, echoes Andy Warhol’s portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Liz Taylor—and, indeed, of Garland herself. The dry humor of the work’s text conjures the Joke paintings of Richard Prince, while its use of lino flooring evokes Jean-Michel Basquiat’s use of doors and other urban detritus as supports. For Dorothy and Toto, there was ‘no place like home’. Here, Banksy delights in wrenching art from its comfort zone, thrusting it against its will into the spaces of everyday life.

Kids on Guns, 2003

Phillips Hong-Kong: 1 December 2022
Estimated: HKD 8,500,000 – 12,000,000
HKD 7,147,000 / USD 915,700

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporar… Lot 26 December 2022 | Phillips

In Kids on Guns, the artist places the image of an innocent little girl and boy – accentuated with a heart shaped balloon and teddy bear – against the silhouettes of a mountain of weapons below their feet in a satirical juxtaposition. Surrounded by violence and threats, the two young children look to each other for consolation, as the boy rests his hand on the girl’s shoulder as a sign of reassurance. Standing atop the mountain of brutality with a shining red balloon – an iconic motif that is almost synonymous to Banksy himself – the children are advocating for hope amongst fear in somber solidarity, offering an alternative view against the chaotic state of affairs that is war, oppression, hatred and violence.

In 2013, during Banky’s time at his residency with Better Out Than In in New York, the artist set up a temporary stall in Central Park with an unassuming hawker to sell his stenciled works to onlooking tourists and passerbys, priced at $60 each. Several of Banky’s most iconic black and white motifs were available, amongst which is an edition of Kids on Guns. This act democratized Banksy’s works and made it more accessible to the public; works by the artist were bought as if they were any trinket on a street market. The stark contrast between the initial purchase price of $60 and the current auction records positions the work as a witty and potent commentary on art circulation, the art market and authenticity as a whole.

Angel Flack Jacket, 2009

Sotheby’s London: 15 October 2022
Estimated: GBP 250,000 – 350,000
GBP 504,000 / USD 563,443

Angel Flack Jacket | Contemporary Day Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY (b. 1974)
Angel Flack Jacket, 2009
Spray paint on wood
244 x 82.8 cm (96 x 32 5/8 inches)
Signed and marked with the artist’s symbol on the reverse

Banksy’s Angel Flack Jacket (2009) is based on an earlier graffiti by the artist depicting a winged angel figure in a bulletproof vest, which was executed on a wall in Shoreditch in London. The original graffiti was made as a tribute to another English artist, Ozone, who died in 2007 after being hit by an underground train in East London while running away from the police. Banksy published the following message on his website following the creation of the graffiti:

“The last time I hit this spot I painted a crap picture of two men in banana costumes waving hand guns (Pulp Fiction spoof). A few weeks later a writer called Ozone completely dogged it and then wrote ‘If it’s better next time i’ll leave it’ in the bottom corner. When we lost Ozone we lost a fearless graffiti writer and as it turns out a pretty perceptive art critic. Ozone – rest in peace”

BANKSY, OLD STREET, LONDON, 2007 / IMAGE: © JENNY MATTHEWS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

The original graffiti shows the angel holding a skull, symbolizing the tragic and sudden death of Ozone. The present composition is an altered version of the same cherub-like figure which however no longer has wings. Angel Flack Jacket exemplifies Banksy’s role as a social commentator and satirist and his signature use of familiar symbols juxtaposed with incompatible references to create absurd and provocative images which convey potent political messages. In this case, he depicts an innocent and delicate figure wearing a bullet proof jacket, itself embodying violence and war. In Banksy’s works, satire does not need to single-handedly dismantle an ideology for its employment to be deemed a success. Rather, the identification of previously hidden or disguised oppressive concepts by audiences is a success in the expansion of social consciousness. Indeed, drawing into the realm of visibility those on the margins of society that are considered helpless and invisible, largely without legal, juridical and visual representation, Banksy successfully infiltrates the social consciousness and continues to be heralded as one of the most celebrated artists of our generation.

Fallen Angel, 2008

Bonhams London: 13 October 2022
Estimated: GBP 200,000 – 300,000
GBP 227,100 / USD 252,095

Bonhams : BANKSY (B. 1975) Fallen Angel 2008

Fallen Angel combines all the masterful elements of Banksy’s practice in one work – vivid symbolism, an acute awareness of social issues and the dramatic chiaroscuro-like contrasts resulting from the artist’s stenciling technique. Much like the original public piece on Old Street which inspired the present work, the lit cigarette, crinkled clothes, and trainers on the individual shows that the Fallen Angel is in fact an ordinary person, not a divine being. This is Banksy’s empathetic manner of suggesting that anyone can have a fall from grace. The focus on an angelic figure is a mark of Banksy’s highly satirical genius; under Banksy’s hand, the figures of cherubs or putti from Renaissance and Baroque art are subverted from symbols of peace, prosperity, and joy to victims of modern poverty and subjects of societal denigration. Banksy deliberately used a heavier application of white spray paint on the head and shoulder of the crouched angel and used a lighter hand on the legs. Viewing the lower half of the scene, the figure almost seems to vanish from the audience’s gaze. The dramatic spot lit effect on the subject deepens this atmosphere of undue public judgement.Although most details of Banksy’s identity remain a mystery, the story of Fallen Angel provenance provides a first-hand glimpse into the artist’s sense of humor. The present work was gifted by the artist to the comedian Simon Evans after including one of Evans’ jokes alongside an illustration of the earlier, Old Street version of Fallen Angel in Existencilism. The joke as told on the stage goes ‘it is rather ironic… that the favorite drink of the homeless, should be a beer called Tennent’s’. Unlike the Old Street version, the present Fallen Angel includes Banksy’s signature on the lower right and is inscribed Thanks Simon ☮. The work was also sent with a handwritten note from Banksy, who jokes ‘Who said good things come to those who wait? “Average stencil garbage” is more like it’. This tongue-in-cheek and ironic wit is also evident when the reverse of Fallen Angel is viewed. It is executed on the back of a Morons Sepia print – one of Banksy’s most scathing yet commercially popular commentaries on the art world.

Diamond In The Rough, 2010

Christie’s New-York: 9 May 2022
Estimated: USD 3,000,000 – 5,000,000
USD 3,660,000

BANKSY (christies.com)

BANKSY
Diamond In The Rough, 2010
Spray paint on truck door
192.7 x 93 x 10.2 cm (76x37x4 inches)

Taking a steel and glass truck door as his canvas, Banksy builds out Diamond in the Rough by employing the extant tags and painted markings as the backdrop for his composition. Rendered in the artist’s signature stencil mode, a young girl sits at the bottom of the frame. Her right hand extends outward with the palm up to cradle a glowing gem with shine lines emanating on all sides that are reminiscent of the playful compositions of Keith Haring. A direct predecessor, Haring’s work also graced the public transit system decades prior and prefigured some of Banksy’s own compositions like Choose Your Weapon, 2010, which features an homage to the late artist’s barking dog motif.

Brushed in over a spray of silvery gray paint, the stylized stone in Diamond in the Rough is simple in its structure but bold in its presentation. Its basic composition is at odds with the more shaded and nuanced rendering of the girl, and this dichotomy serves to link Banksy’s figure with the chaotic jumble of lines and colors hovering above. This turmoil of various tags and linework is centered on a rounded square of a now-obfuscated window. The frame of the portal acts as an enclosing visual element while the discernible text elements within provide a passing resemblance to the cartouches of Ancient Egypt. The metal door also evokes the false doors of many Egyptian tombs that mark the threshold between the works of the living and the dead, and the cut corner, a scar of the object removed. Furthermore, Banksy has painted over the bottom portion of the door with gray paint in an effort to separate his figure and her find from the energetic scrawls above. This cleaner, more orderly space on the lower section contrasts distinctly with the pulsing energy of the upper portion. The juxtaposition creates a narrative wherein the girl and her treasure are lifted out of the pandemonium in a brief, glimmering moment. Wheeling above her head is a powerful visual force made by countless hands, but for that instant, her eyes only see the facets of her crystalline trophy.

Bomb Love, 2002

Bonhams London: 15 October 2021
Estimated: GBP 300,000 – 400,000
GBP 562,750 / USD 681,932

Bonhams : Banksy (B. 1975) Bomb Love 2002

BANKSY
Bomb Love, 2002
Spray paint on canvas
25.4 x 20.3 cm (10×8 inches)

Bomb Love is pure Banksy: provocative, bitingly satirical and yet tender. Always a vicious opponent of mass media and casual consumerism the sense that today’s youth are being sold aggression instead of innocence, war instead of play explodes from the canvas in a flash of bubble-gum pink. The little girl sporting a ponytail tightly hugs onto the cumbersome military weapon as if it were her favourite cuddly toy and this is redolent of his Girl and Balloon in its whimsicality, and Kids on Guns in its wistful agony. All three images are stone cold classics by the artist coming from the zenith of the artist’s most celebrated period.

The image that first appeared as a black-and-white stencil on the streets of East London in 2001 has since become an iconic Banksy motif which is highly sought after by collectors. Executed on canvas and tagged with the artist’s distinctive signature, Bomb Love from 2002 is executed onto a rosy base color reminiscent of infanthood that enhances the motif and gives the work itself an innocent and naïve quality. Bomb Love is fresh to the market and whilst the artist later executed a print version of the popular subject, works on canvas from the series are rare at auction with the last comparable work having been offered over a decade ago. The artist’s empathetic and consistent dialogue within a contemporary global crisis is to be admired and there is an attractive irony to Banksy’s compassion. The hybrid street artist and social activist rose to prominence in the 1990s as a graffiti maverick, rejecting any form of government control. Banksy’s close encounters with the police in his early years led him to adopt his signature stencils; spraying onto a ready-made template allowed the artist to execute his works quickly, whilst sheltering behind his concealed identity. Executed in 2002, Bomb Love is a prime model of Banksy’s enduring anti-war art of the last two decades, and in keeping with the context of the sale, the work will be accompanied alongside another highly evocative Banksy piece from the same year, Rude Copper.

Gas Mask Boy, 2009

Phillips London: 15 April 2021
Estimated: GBP 1,600,000 – 2,000,000
GBP 2,200,500 / USD 3,032,662

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporary A… Lot 21 April 2021 | Phillips

BANKSY
Gas Mask Boy, 2009
Spray paint and oil on wood
92.5 x 72 cm (36.4 x 28.4 inches)

The anonymous street artist, painter, and social activist Banksy has shaken up the art world with his distinctive oeuvre characterized by dark humor, satire and political commentary. Inspired by the thriving street art scene in his home city of Bristol, Banksy’s works started appearing on trains and city streets as early as 1993. Spray paint and cardboard stencils allowed the artist to achieve a meticulous level of detail with speed, keeping him safely beyond the reach of law enforcement. His painting Gas Mask Boy, portraying a crouched figure whose respirator mask reflects the ethereal vision of a blooming field, contains some of the conceptual paradoxes the artist has become most known and recognized for, including the dichotomy between air toxicity and landscape purity, a subject of resounding relevance in today’s escalating climate crisis. Beside the young protagonist is the spray-painted outline of a flower — perhaps the boy’s attempt at painting a meadow, as reflected on his mask.

Particularly poignant in the present work, the gas mask has been a recurring symbol in Banksy’s iconography. Evidently a tool to disguise his likeness (Banksy has, to this day, still not been visually identified), the mask furthermore contains fringe associations that transform it into a message of subversion in itself. First appearing during the Great War, the respirator mask symbolized the threat of both chemical and biological warfare, the destruction of the environment and the extreme lengths humanity will go to when waging war. In recent culture, the object has been used by state law enforcers during demonstrations, and thus come to embody notions of unrest, rioting, but also government control and oppression. Banksy channels all these ideas in his compositions, melding them into a single, easily understandable image that is immediately striking upon first encounter. In Gas Mask Boy, the artist aims his critique at the policing of graffiti art on an elementary level, but also at the environmental damage imposed upon younger generations, which might lead them to eventually lose sight of flowering meadows and be forced into masks for sanitary protection.

Girl With Ice Cream on Palette, 2004

Bonhams London: 24 March 2021
Estimated: GBP 300,000 – 500,000
GBP 1,102,750 / USD 1,339,113

Bonhams : BANKSY (B. 1975) Girl With Ice Cream on Palette 2004

BANKSY
Girl With Ice Cream on Palette, 2004
Spray paint and emulsion on wood
59.7 x 50 cm (23.5 x 19.7 inches)

Girl with Ice Cream on Palette from 2004 is a rare example of Banksy’s stenciling style on found material which is not only entirely fresh to the market but also depicts one of the most playful and memorable images from his oeuvre, which first appeared at his major breakthrough exhibition Turf War in 2003. Not one to shy away from dark humor and pointed irony, Banksy takes a subject that evokes the fragility and innocence of childhood: a young girl resplendent in her polka-dot dress, her hair tied in plaits with a bow, gleefully holding an ice cream cone. That the cone contains a fizzing stick of dynamite, however, is Banksy’s dramatic punchline and typifies the flavor of his humor; a poignant reflection by the artist on the inevitable disillusionment that accompanies ageing and possible hopes for the future. In common with many of Banksy’s most successful works, Girl with Ice Cream on Palette intends to shock, yet it also aims to engender thought provoking discourse within a broader socio-political context.

Game Changer, 2020

Christie’s London: 22 March 2021
Estimated: GBP 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
GBP 16,758,000 / USD 23,114,482

BANKSY (christies.com)

BANKSY
Game Changer, 2020
Oil on canvas
91×91 cm (35.9 x 35.9 inches)

On 6 May 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a painting appeared at University Hospital Southampton. In crisp, linear detail, it showed a young boy playing with a selection of superhero dolls. In the painting, Batman and Spiderman lie discarded in a bin; instead, the child clutches a new idol. A masked, uniformed nurse soars to the rescue, her cape fluttering and arm outstretched towards the sky. The picture was accompanied by a note: ‘Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if it’s only black and white.’

Having delighted staff and patients for the past ten months, Banksy’s gift to the hospital now comes to auction. Banksy has gifted Game Changer to Southampton Hospitals Charity and proceeds from the sale of the artwork will be used to support the wellbeing of University Hospital Southampton staff and patients as well as benefitting associated health organisations and charities across the UK that enhance the care and treatment provided by the NHS. At a time when the world has come to rely more than ever on the bravery and resilience of its healthcare workers, the image of the boy and his new hero speaks to an unprecedented global zeitgeist. Equally, the scene’s quiet innocence captures the simple, universal values that have come to the fore during the pandemic—family, home and time spent with loved ones. Up until now, Game Changer has only been seen in person by frontline medical staff and those admitted for treatment: the auction marks its first public appearance outside the hospital.

Game Changer appeared at a time when people across the world rallied in support of frontline medical staff: from doorstep cheers and rounds of applause, to rainbows painted on household windows. The nurse’s red cross— the only hint of color in an otherwise monochrome composition—serves as a symbol of the pandemic’s international impact. At the same time, the image of the young boy at play is one of universal poignancy, capturing the renewed focus on domestic and familial life that has come to define this period. Intricately rendered in oil, with the expressive detail of a children’s book illustration, the work depicts a moment of pure innocence, charting the play of light and shadow across the boy’s face, hair and clothes. Children have long featured in Banksy’s artworks—most famously his iconic Girl with Balloon—frequently functioning as cautionary symbols of damage to the next generation. Here, however, the child seems to look towards a brighter dawn, safe in the knowledge that real superheroes do walk among us.

Police

Vest, 2019

Sotheby’s London: 9 October 2024
Estimated: GBP 200,000 – 300,000
GBP 780,000 / USD 1,021,800

Vest | Contemporary Evening Auction | 2024 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY (b. 1974)
Vest, 2019
Acrylic on canvas, velcro and Plastazte foam
45x43x32 cm (17 3/4 x 16 7/8 x 12 5/8 inches)
Signed and numbered 1 (on the reverse)
This work is number 1 from an edition of 5

A poignant and provocative work, Banksy’s Vest from 2019 fuses patriotism with the realities of violence sweeping a nation, rendering it an unforgettable reflection on the fractured state of British identity. One of only five in existence, Vest belongs to Banksy’s Gross Domestic Product homewares line, which was first displayed in a shopfront in Croydon in South London in 2019, to comment on the impending commercialization of the Banksy brand. Addressing the stark realities of the United Kingdom’s surge in knife crime, the present work is a striking reinterpretation of the traditional John Bull gentleman’s waistcoat – an item long associated with British society, from the working class to the elite. Vest is a piece of armor incorporating a genuine, former police-issue bullet proof vest capable of stopping rounds from a gun. An object associated with law and order, or worn from fear and paranoia, Vest is adorned with a black, white, and blue Union Jack, however, the iconographic somber tones are disrupted by a rusty red hue suggestive of dried blood. This subtle yet powerful insinuation of threat to life evokes a sense of mourning, marking Vest as a chilling emblem of Britain’s present moment.

Ever the anti-establishment artist, Banksy chose one of the biggest platforms in music to disseminate his message: Glastonbury Festival. During his historic 2019 Pyramid Stage headline performance, British grime musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-award-winning artist Stormzy donned one of Banksy’s Vests, injecting a potent layer of visual tension into his electrifying set. Like Banksy, Stormzy used his platform to highlight systemic injustices, particularly the targeting of young Black men by a biased judicial system, as well as endemic surges in knife crime and widespread political unrest.

Stormzy on stage at Glastonbury Festival, 2019. Courtesy: Instagram

His performance was visually punctuated by the stark imagery of the words “knife crime” projected behind him, alongside an excerpt from a speech by MP David Lammy, emphasizing the pressing issues plaguing the nation. In Stormzy’s hands, Banksy’s Vest transcended its utilitarian function, becoming a charged statement criticizing the fractured state of Britain. Amid the spectacle of his performance, Vest encapsulated the tension between strength and vulnerability, hope and despair, standing as a banner of a divided nation, where national identity is both celebrated and contested. A testament to its gravitas as a piece of cultural history, Stormzy’s vest is today housed in and displayed at the London Design Museum.

Here lies the central paradox of Banksy’s work: it operates both inside and outside of the establishment, it skirts the boundary between good and bad taste, and courts mass appeal whilst commenting on potentially marginalizing political and cultural issues. Utilizing a mainstream framework, such as Glastonbury, that employs an ironic critical distance, Banksy is able to effectively approach a complicated and multifaceted discussion that prompts us to rethink our assumptions and, perhaps, even resist them.

BANKSY
Untitled (Fuck the Police), 2000

Phillips London: 10 October 2024
Estimated: GBP 500,000 – 700,000
GBP 635,000 / USD 831,850

Banksy – Modern & Contemporary Art E… Lot 14 October 2024 | Phillips

Irreverent, bold and responsive to the ever-evolving socio-political landscape, Untitled (Fuck the Police) exemplifies the clarity and wit of Banksy’s guerilla art approach. With gritted teeth and hands tightly clasping his baton, the police officer scornfully stares beyond the borders of the picture. As if just having arrived at the scene, the perpetrator has evaded capture, leaving the bemused officer comically juxtaposed with the brazen red text: ‘Fuck the Police’. Satirizing familiar elements of popular culture to create novel, subversive imagery, the police force is among the motifs that Banksy has repeatedly returned to and ridiculed. Working under the cover of darkness and adopting an anonymous persona to avoid arrest, by its very nature Banksy’s graffiti has and continues to entangle the artist with law enforcement: a criminality that the street artist responds to with derisive irony. Executed in 2000, the present work represents an early example of Banksy’s iconic policemen rendered in the artist’s signature black-and-white stencil technique: an organization that Banksy has continued to playfully mock since Untitled (Fuck the Police). Usually caught unaware, Banksy’s police are accompanied by poodles rather than guard dogs (Graffiti Area, 2003), mocked by children with paper bags (Police Sniper and Paper Bag Boy, 2007) or most notoriously, depicted in moments of unexpected intimacy (Kissing Coppers, 2004).

Banksy came of age within the political turbulence and strong countercultural impulses of the 1980s in Bristol, a historic port town where graffiti, community activism, rave culture, and American hip-hop’s raw social critique had gained increasing popularity. Simple, direct, and carrying a deeper message about power, police brutality, and the oppressed condition of those living under authoritarian structures, Banksy’s slogan here directly echoes N.W.A’s powerful 1988 track ‘F*k Tha Police’ and its exposure of the injustices faced daily by young Black men in urban communities, and fits within a broader landscape of hip-hop’s outspoken and revolutionary treatment of these themes from artists including Public Enemy and KRS-One. Among a generation that was fundamentally anti-establishment, Banksy witnessed, alongside the Hartcliffe and Poll Tax Riots, draconian police measures like Operation Anderson in Bristol. At the time of the largest anti-graffiti crackdown, on the 20 March 1989, police conducted seventy-two raids on suspected graffiti artists’ homes. It was because of similar encounters with the police that at eighteen Banksy conceived his signature stencil method. In flight from officers, the artist noticed the stenciled plate on the fuel tank beneath the vehicle he was hiding: ‘I realised I had to cut my painting time in half or give it up altogether’. From the very outset of his career, Banksy’s work was closely entangled with the police, graffiti – a fundamentally illegal act –  offering a platform and a means of speaking truth to power and undermining the very structures that seek to maintain order on their terms.

Police Car, 2003

Digard Auction: 12 December 2023
Estimated: EUR 300,000 – 500,000
EUR 364,000 / USD 393,725

BANKSY (Britannique, né en 1975) (digard.com)

BANKSY
Police Car, 2003
Spray paint and mixed media on cardboard
73×105 cm (28.7 x 41.3 inches)
Unique in this format

Banksquiat. Boy and Dog in Stop and Search, 2018

Phillips New-York: 17 May 2023
Estimated: USD 8,000,000 – 12,000,000
USD 9,724,500

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporary Art… Lot 13 May 2023 | Phillips

In the early hours of 17 September 2017, Banksy paid a clandestine visit to the Barbican in Central London. That morning, as The Londonist shares, Banksy’s newest image caught museum staff by surprise: “A brilliant homage to Jean-Michel Basquiat, stenciled on the wall in Golden Lane.” As The New York Times reported: “Banksy Strikes Again.”

Banksy timed the creation of his intervention to the opening of Basquiat: Boom for Real at the Barbican, the first comprehensive exhibition of the influential street artist in the United Kingdom since his untimely death in 1988. The present work, Banksquiat. Boy and Dog in Stop and Search, executed on panel in 2018, features two figures from Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 painting, Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump, being frisked by members of London’s Metropolitan Police. Basquiat’s boy and dog are rendered in the late artist’s gestural painterly style, while the police officers are executed using Banksy’s signature black-and-white stencil technique. A collaboration beyond space and time, the work unites two street art giants from either side of the Atlantic in a cogent commentary on commodification and privilege in contemporary art.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump, 1982. Private Collection. Image: akg-images, Artwork: © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

Banksy’s signature stenciling technique—which the artist facetiously calls “cheating”—allows him to create works with a level of detail and precision that is difficult (if not impossible) to achieve otherwise in the inherently quick, covert practice of graffiti. These stencils appropriate images or motifs from popular culture, but reinterpret them into novel settings, a shift that imbues the imagery with new, often confrontational, and deeply ironic meaning. For instance, Kissing Coppers, 2004, executed on the wall of a pub in Brighton, a historically gay-friendly city in England, calls to attention lingering homophobia and the history of police crackdowns on LBGTQ+ people (most famously, in the United States, at Stonewall). Banksy’s stenciled interventions, Kissing Coppers and the present work included, separate him out from the crowd, as a stylistic fingerprint that unites his graffiti works around the world.

While Banksquiat. Boy and Dog in Stop and Search finds its visual basis in Basquiat’s Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump, Banksy reinterprets Basquiat’s imagery—and rewrites his title—to shift the meaning of the work. Basquiat’s Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump is a blistering summer scene, with the boy and dog posing in the red-hot water of a johnnypump, slang for an opened fire hydrant that turns the street into an impromptu (and technically illegal) water park. Spike Lee famously captures the raucous joy of this summertime activity in his 1989 film, Do the Right Thing, which focuses on residents of Bedford Stuyvesant, a historically Black neighborhood in Basquiat’s native Brooklyn. Basquiat paints his figures against a vibrant background of red, green, and yellow, colors which commonly feature on Caribbean and African textiles, like rastacaps, kente cloth, and the traditional Ethiopian flag. These colors, in place of the white spray of rushing water, underscore the localized connection of the visuals of Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump to the lived experience and material existence of Black Brooklynites.

If Basquiat’s painting, Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump, lives in the joyous outset of Spike Lee’s scene, as residents jump and play in the open fire hydrant, then Banksquiat lives in the aftermath, once a white man calls the police on the Black residents. Spike Lee masterfully navigates the precarious joy of the johnnypump in the narrative of the film; Banksy, too, makes careful artistic choices to adapt Basquiat’s work to the presence of his stenciled Metropolitan Police. Banksy removes the majority of Basquiat’s tricolor, Pan-African background, leaving only a thin grey-scaled outline around the figures in the present work. The male figure’s hands, raised perhaps in play or celebration in Basquiat’s original, become a clear “hands up” gesture in the presence of the police. As in Spike Lee’s film, Banksy’s artistic choices show how quickly a playful moment can become a tense encounter for Black Americans; the Johnnypump transforms into a Stop and Search.

Lost Children’s Sign from Glastonbury Festival (Sketch), 2005

Christie’s London: 25 March 2021
Estimated: GBP 200,000 – 300,000
GBP 525,000 / USD 719,901

BANKSY, Lost Children’s Sign from Glastonbury Festival (Sketch) | Christie’s (christies.com)

BANKSY
Lost Children’s Sign from Glastonbury Festival (Sketch), 2005
Spray paint on packing paper
89×81 cm (35 x 31 7/8 inches)
Signed and dated ‘BANKSY 2005’ (lower right)

In Banksy’s Lost Children’s Sign from Glastonbury Festival (Sketch) (2005), a grinning policeman bends down to light up a spliff in the mouth of a young girl. Created as part of an intervention at the 2005 Glastonbury Festival—which also included a tent lifted into the sky by helium balloons—it is an instantly recognisable example of the artist’s anti-establishment wit. This would not be the last time Banksy made an appearance at Glastonbury: in 2019, he created the iconic Union Jack stab-proof vest worn by rapper Stormzy for his headline performance on the Pyramid Stage.

Banksy has depicted policemen in many of his best-known images, including Snorting Copper and Kissing Coppers, which first appeared on walls in London and Brighton in 2005. In counterpart to these subverted authority figures, perhaps his most famed stencil of all is Girl with Balloon (2002), which resonates with viewers worldwide as an emblem of hope and innocence. Lost Children’s Sign from Glastonbury Festival (Sketch) juxtaposes these two central Banksy characters to create a striking satirical vision, with the long arm of the law made gleefully demonic. Banksy’s characteristic use of stencils, as seen in the present work, was first inspired by a run-in with the police at eighteen. Fleeing the Bristol constabulary one evening, he hid underneath a garbage truck where he studied the lettering on the side of the cabin door. Immersing himself in the thriving graffiti scene of his native city, he began to stencil on walls, trains and unlikely public spaces, working across the UK and the wider world as his ambition grew. His fascination with the motif of the police officer, in this regard, may be understood in relation to the apparent lawlessness of his own practice. Banksy himself preaches a utopian view of street art.

Youth & Innocence

Banksy has been using the fragility and innocence of the childhood to convey strong messages to the viewer. Indeed, when the artist portrays a young girl with an ice cream bomb, or a young boy with a gas mask, one cannot stay indifferent.

Gas Mask Boy, 2009
Spray-paint and oil on wood
92.5 x 72 cm (36 3/8 x 36 3/8 inches)

Girl with Ice Cream on Palette, 2004
Spray-paint and emulsion on wood
59.7 x 50 cm (23 1/2 x 19 11/16 inches)

Go Flock Yourself, 2009
Spray-paint and emulsion on metal
91.4 x 91.4 cm (36×36 inches)

15. Happy Coppers

16. Sculptures

 

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1. Bomb Love

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“It takes a lot of guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy  and call for things no one else believes in like peace and justice and freedom.”

Bomb Love, also known as Bomb Hugger, portrays a young girl hugging a bomb as if it were a cuddly toy. This striking stencil contrasts the innocence and purity of the smiling girl with the violence and destruction bombs create. This image also provokes anxiety as this deadly weapon she is holding might explode at any minute. This work illustrates modern society’s affection for warfare, encouraging large corporations to manufacture and sell bombs by the millions as if they were toys. Bomb Love is also a clear salute to the power of love, that can prevail over war and violence – perhaps this little girl could disarm a bomb through her loving embrace.

Bomb Hugger, Brighton, 2003, in Wall and Piece

 

This young girl shows no fear; in fact, her face and smile clearly demonstrate she is very comfortable hugging the bomb. Bomb Love highlights our society’s indifference and numbness to warfare, as countless bombs and weapons are manufactured everyday and either stored or sold to oppressive regimes – often under the pretense that weapons are necessary to maintain peace in the world. It also highlights the trivialization of warfare, presented as a harmless game without any consequence, just like playing with a toy.

 

Banksy also realized many original with this iconic stencil, we only reference a few below.

 

Bomb Love, 2000

Stencil spray-paint on board

58.5×58.5 cm (23 1/16 x 23 1/16 inches)

 

Bomb Hugger, 2002

Stencil spray-paint on canvas

43×43 cm (16 15/16 x 16 15/16 inches)

Edition: 5

Existencilism, 33 1/3 Gallery, Los Angeles, 2002

Bomb Love, 2002

Stencil spray-paint and acrylic on canvas

25.5×20.5 cm (10 1/16 x 8 1/16 in.)

From a series, unique in this format

Stenciled signature on the overlap

Santa’s Ghetto, Dragon Bar, London, December 2002

 

 

Bomb Hugger, 2002

Acrylic and spray enamel on canvas

30.5×30.5 cm (12×12 inches)

From a series, unique in this format

 

2. Happy Chopper

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The Apache Helicopter is a recurring theme in Banksy‘s oeuvre. This helicopter often adorned with a pink or yellow ribbon illustrates the Iraq war for Banksy, and has been used in various anti-war protests. This conflict was the subject of considerable debate at the time, as accusations were made that coalition military action was mostly motivated by Iraq’s oil supply, and not the fight for democracy as we were led to believe.

Happy Chopper, 2002

 

Happy Chopper depicts a squadron of armed military helicopters against a bright blue sky. In stark contrast with the cartoony, fluffy clouds, the incoming choppers (American slang for helicopters) are rendered in much greater detail, in dark colors, with graphic emphasis on their heavy and imposing weaponry, evoking a sense of imminent danger. However, the lead chopper is “wearing” a baby pink bow, juxtaposing the violence of warfare with the innocence of childhood. The bow adorning the otherwise accurate representation of the fighter helicopter mocks ideas of masculinity and militarism, whilst reinforcing their inherent menace.

 

Happy Chopper first appeared in 2002 as a sprayed mural in Central London at the Whitecross Street Market.

Happy Chopper, Old Street, Shoreditch, London

 

Happy Chopper was also heavily featured during various anti-war protests throughout London, and Banksy included a picture of it in his self-published book, Cut It Out. Banksy also created originals on canvas with a few variations.

Study for Happy Chopper, 2003

Spray-paint on found framed oil painting

79×109.7cm (31 1/8 x 43 1/4 inches)

Happy Choppers, 2005

Acrylic, stencil and spray-paint on canvas

Happy Choppers, 2002
Acrylic and spray enamel on canvas
45.6 x 53 cm (18 x 20 7/8 inches)

3. Heavy Weaponry

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Heavy Weaponry is one of Banksy‘s iconic visual. It depicts an elephant made in the artist’s recognizable stencil style, with a rocket strapped to its back, hence the double-entendre in the witty title. Banksy’s satirical, anti-war, anti-capitalist and anti-establishment passages cut through the mainstream culture whilst bridging the gap between the street and the traditional art space. One of the main elements of Banksy’s style is its powerful and animated visual rendering.

 

Heavy Weaponry plays a central role in Banksy’s oeuvre. By depicting an elephant carrying a missile, this strong visual translates the artist’s empathy of the elephant’s unavoidable predicament into a compelling reality. The image of the elephant bearing a rocket on its back carries various interpretations; presumably the general message is anti-military, in line with Banksy’s other works using similar imagery.

 

The first Heavy Weaponry dates 1998 and was exhibited at Severnshed in Bristol. 

 

Heavy Weaponry, 1998

Spray-paint on MDF board

50.5×52.5 cm (19 7/8 x 20 11/16 inches)

Heavy Weaponry, 2003
Spray-paint on canvas
25.4 x 30.3 cm (10×12 inches)

Edition: 25

Heavy Weaponry depicts a singular elephant made in Banksy’s recognizable stencil style with a rocket strapped to its back. The image of the elephant bearing a rocket on its back carries various interpretations; presumably the general message is anti-military, in line with Banksy’s other works using similar imagery.

London, New-York, Bristol (Heavy Weaponry), 2000

Spray-paint and emulsion on canvas

55×55 cm (21 5/8 x 21 5/8 inches)

Edition: 10, each is a unique variation

 

This version of Heavy Weaponry is filled with a variety of symbols and motifs that have recurred throughout the Bristol-born artist’s practice: an oversize barcode, his signature elephant backpacking a missile, and the names of the cities where the artist painted the most murals. The painting feels charged with a veiled anti-war sentiment, mocking the commoditization of military engagement.

 

Obviously, Banksy‘s own heavy weaponry remains his stencil and the art of the image, and London, New York, Bristol (Heavy Weaponry) reads as much a declaration of intent for artistic intervention in these locations as a critique of militant malpractice.

 

Heavy Weaponry over Radar, 2002

Stencil spray-paint on cardboard

75×55cm (29 1/2 x 25 5/8 inches)

Heavy Weaponry over Radar is mixing two Banksy’s iconic images: Heavy Weaponry and Radar Rat. The artist spray painted an elephant with a rocket strapped to its back over the coral-red spiral seen in the background of Radar Rat. It could be perceived as an anti-military statement by the artist, formulated through this satirical, over-exaggerated image., in what seems to be a comment on the ever-increasing presence of surveillance equipment in cities such as London.

Heavy Weaponry (Multi-color Background), 2009

Acrylic and spray-paint stencil on board, in artist’s frame

59.4×69.8 cm (23 3/8 x 27 1/2 inches)

Protect From All Elements, 2013

Acrylic and spray enamel on board

 43.8 x 57.7 cm (17 1/4 x 22 3/4 inches)

4. Love Is In the Air

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“If you want to say something and have people listen, then you have to wear a mask”

Flower Thrower is an expression of the themes and motifs that have defined Banksy‘s career. A politically motivated graffiti artist plying his trade on the streets of Bristol, Banksy made a name for himself with a strong anti-establishment message delivered through dark and humorous imagery. Increasingly popular and increasingly serious, Banksy has brought street art into the gallery space, delivering the art form to a new audience.

Soon after his first solo exhibition at the Los Angeles based 33 1/3 Gallery in 2002, Banksy created the ”Love is in the Air” stencil; it has since become one of his most recognizable icons.

Originally spray painted on a wall off London’s Rivington Street, circa 2003, Banksy has reworked the stencil on a regular basis throughout his career. The image of a masked figure throwing a bouquet of flowers is thought to symbolize the action needed to bring about change; as Banksy has remarked, “If you want to say something and have people listen then you have to wear a mask”.

Love is in the Air depicts a masked man, dressed as a militant, who is about to throw a bouquet of flowers with mercurial vigor. Typical of Banksy’s socially charged imagery, Love is in the Air demonstrates the artist’s sustained interest in the absurdity of war, as well as the arbitrariness that can derive from unequal power dynamics. Indeed, while the spray-painted protagonist is armed with blooming plants and nothing else, the forces surrounding him seem to operate from heavier weaponry, placing him in a position of immediate danger.

Existing as part of a larger body of work commonly referred to as Love is in the Air or Flower Thrower or LIITA, the present work was executed in 2003, shortly after Banksy had produced the image’s first iteration as a large format stenciled graffiti in Jerusalem, which itself closely followed the erection of the West Bank Wall. Today, Love is in the Air is recognized as one of Banksy’s most iconic and most sought-after artworks, existing not only in the realm of fine arts but also as the graphically powerful subject of numerous commodified goods, including posters, phone covers, t-shirts and other types of merchandise all over the world.

Rage, Flower Thrower, Beit Sahour. Image: Alamy Stock Photo.

Reminiscent of late-1960s images of students protesting the Vietnam War, Love is in the Air shows the figure of a young man leaning back with an arm stretched outwards, as if winding up to throw something aggressively. Yet, instead of being seized in an act of violence that one would assume involves a bomb or a grenade, Banksy’s subject carries a symbol for peace and beauty — a bouquet of flowers. Extracted from a presumably chaotic and violent context and standing alone, poetically resilient in a sea of nothingness, the man is disconcertingly removed from the situation of unrest that his movements and attire suggest. With its riotous imagery, Love is in the Air is namely redolent of Andy Warhol’s Riots series, similarly focusing on the time-lapse of violence — the pause and silence that separates a violent act from its fatal consequence. Equally, the picture’s paradoxical sense of quietude evokes Cady Noland’s striking sculptural manifestations of punctured silhouettes, which, despite indicating inherent violence, exude the similar sentiment of a deadly occurrence’s eerie aftermath. Her human silhouettes, often hoisting to the viewer’s size, suggest both the life and death of their bodies, just as Love is in the Air’s character is at once alive and inevitably obsolete, powerless against the force of the central orange target.

Andy Warhol, Race Riot, 1964, silkscreened ink and synthetic polymer on canvas

Image: Bridgeman Images.

Back in the day Banksy was based at the Wall of Sound record label’s studio in West London for a while. He made a bunch of sleeve artwork in return, including this in 2000 for the cover of Wall of Sound’s admittedly rather good indie dance spin-off imprint. Here’s the promotional poster for the LP featuring Love is in the Air’s seminal ‘Flower Thrower’ graphic. A bit of a jewel.

We Love You… So Love Us, 2000

Vintage Poster, 60×45 cm

Love Is In The Air, 2002
Stencil spray-paint on canvas
43×51 cm (16 15/16 x 20 1/16 inches)
Edition: 5

Love Is In The Air, 2003

Spray-paint on cardboard

68 x 67.5 cm (26 3/4 x 26 5/8 inches)

Flower Chucker, 2003
Spray-paint on cardboard
56 x 54.5 cm (26 3/4 x 26 5/8 inches)

Love Is In The Air, 2005

Spray-paint and oil on canvas

90×90 cm (35 3/8 x 36 3/8 inches)

Flower Thrower, 2010

Spray-paint on canvas

84.5x84.5 cm (33 1/3 x 33 1/3 inches)

From a series, unique in this format

7. Re-Mixed Masterworks

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In one of Banksy’s first exhibits in London, entitled Crude Oils, held in Westbourne Grove in October 2005. Banksy exhibited a series of 20 classical oil paintings, including some re-mixes of iconic artworks from art history from van Gogh, Monet, Hopper, or Warhol.

Show Me The Monet (after Claude Monet)
Oil on canvas in artist’s frame
143.1 x 143.4 cm (56 3/8 x 56 1/2 inches)

Show me the Monet was displayed at the street-facing end of the shop-turned-gallery. On prominent view to those passing on the street, this painting set the tone for the exhibition, an event that some 15 years later is now recognized as a milestone in the artist’s career. 

Sun Flowers from Petrol Station (after van Gogh)

Oil on canvas in artist’s frame
76.5 x 61 cm (29 7/8  x 24 inches)

Show Me the Monet joined three other fully painted “remixes” of canonical works of art. Installed along the same wall and across the back of the gallery space, Banksy’s re-imagined Monet accompanied a wilted, bloomless version of van Gogh’s Sunflowers; and a take on Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks in which a topless Union Jack boxer-wearing man has smashed the late-night bar’s glass window.

Tesco Value Soup Can (after Andy Warhol)
Oil on canvas
121.9 x 91.5 cm (48×36 inches)

Are You Using That Chair (after Edward Hopper)

Jack Vettriano’s popular Singing Butler featuring a sinking oil liner and two men in hazmat suits wheeling a barrel of toxic waste. 

Toxic Beach (after Jack Vettriano)

Banksy would regularly re-mix some of the most iconic masterworks and show-case them within his various exhibits, notably at Banksy vs. Bristol Museum, in 2009.

After Millet’s The Gleaners

8. Vandalized Oils

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Landscape with Incident Sign

 

Landscape with Congestion Sign

 

Graffiti Village

 

 

 

9. Rats

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Rats are one of Banksy’s favorite subjects for many reasons explained at length in other parts of Banksy Explained.

Interestingly, even though the artist created an extensive number of murals dedicated to rats, one will realize that Banksy did not create that many originals featuring his favorite animal. On the reverse, monkeys have not been extensively used as subjects for murals, whereas Banksy created a gigantic number of originals based on his Laugh Now or Keep It Real stencils.

Radar Rat, 2002
Spray-paint on cardboard
50.2 x 37.5 cm (19 3/4 x 14 3/4 inches)

 

Radar Rat, 2002
Stencil and free-hand spray-paint on canvas
25.5 x 25.5 cm (10×10 inches)

 

Paparazzi Rat, 2004
Stencil spray-paint on canvas
40×40 cm (15 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches)

Security Protected, 2004
Enamel and paper collage on foam card
59.3 x 84.2 cm (23 3/8 x 33 1/8 inches)

Rat and Sword, 2005
Stencil spray-paint on canvas
30.5 x 25.5 cm (12×10 inches)

 

Rat with 3D Glasses

10. Barcode Leopard

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Barcode Leopard is another iconic stencil Banksy created in the early 2000’s. A majestic leopard is gently walking towards the viewer, after having escaped from his cage. This cage is no other than a giant barcode on wheels. It serves as a symbol of consumerism and capitalism, from which the animal has managed to escape.

This striking stencil first appeared in Bristol on the side of a house on Pembroke Road.

Leopard and Barcode, 2002
Stencil spray-paint on canvas
43×51 cm (16 15/16 x 20 1/16 inches)

Barcode Leopard, 2002
Spray-paint and acrylic on canvas
84 x 91.5 cm (33×36 inches)

Barcode Leopard, 2002
Spray-paint and emulsion on canvas
64.8 x 81.3 (25 1/2 x 32 inches)

Barcode Leopard, 2002
Stencil spray-paint and emulsion on canvas
70×70 cm (27 9/16 x 27 9/16 inches)

11. Birds

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Bird and Grenade, 2002
Oil and spray enamel on found canvas
68.5 x 99 cm (27×39 inches)

Woodland Creature, 2001
Acrylic and spray-paint on canvas

61×50.8 cm (24×20 inches)

Corrosive Bird, 2001
Stencil spray-paint and acrylic on canvas
76×76 cm (30×30 inches)

 

12. HMV Dog

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HMV Dog, 2002
Oil and spray-paint stencil on board
50.5 x 73.5 cm (19 7/8 x 29 inches)

 

 

 

13. Communist Leaders & Royalty

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Political leaders, whether communists or not, are also one of Banksy’s favorite targets. Che Guevara and Lenin often appear on skates, for yet another striking juxtaposition of leisure and playfulness together with the violence of the Marxist revolutionary leaders…

Che Guevara on Skates, 2000
Spray-paint and emulsion on canvas
76.5 x 76.5 cm (30 1/8 x 30 1/8 inches)

 

Lenin on Skates, 2002
Acrylic and spray-paint on canvas
60.9 x 35.5 cm (24×14 inches)

 

Lenin in Sight

Queen Victoria, 2002
Oil on canvas in artist’s frame
91.5 x 91.5 cm (36×36 inches)

 

Monkey Queen, 2003
Oil and emulsion on canvas
92×92 cm (36 1/4 x 36 1/4 inches)