Share on twitter
Share on facebook
Share on pinterest
Share on email

Banksy Originals Top Lots At Auction

BY

 

CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED
PLEASE COME BACK SOON TO READ MORE

 

Even though the title of this article alludes to a financial analysis of Banksy’s auction market, it is mostly a fun way to get introduced to some of the most iconic artworks the artist has created, and to enter into his artistic world. Each of these works are also referred to within our catalogue for Banksy Originals.

 

Banksy has had an established secondary market for more than 15 years, with many works of all types (originals, editions, and prints) hitting the auction block with regularity. All the major auction houses have been including Banksy’s works in their auctions for many years at this stage of the game. Banksy has been setting and subsequently breaking many auction records since 2020, and it might only be a sign of more to come given that he established a new record for himself in 2021 – crossing the USD 20 million threshold for the first time with his artwork dedicated to health-care workers during COVID, Game Changer.

56 originals by Banksy sold at public auction over USD 1 million so far…

Naturally, most of these have occurred in the recent years, including 22 times in 2021 and 9 times in 2020. Said differently, XX of the XX times that one of Banksy’s artworks sold at public auction for more than $1 million have taken place over the past XX years…

Interestingly enough, Banksy broke the $1 million threshold as early as 2008, with Keep It Spotless, a defaced Damien Hirst Painting, and again with Simple Intelligence Testing. One should also note that among those paintings, a few have been donated to various charities in order to raise funds for charitable causes.

#1. 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)

READ ABOUT LOVE IS IN THE BIN

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…

 

#2. Game Changer, 2020

Christie’s London: 22 March 2021
Estimated: GBP 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
GBP 16,758,000 / USD 23,210,000

BANKSY (christies.com)

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

READ ABOUT GAME CHANGER

On 6 May 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a painting entitled Game Changer appeared at University Hospital Southampton. In crisp, linear detail, it showed a young boy playing with a selection of superhero dolls. This is a fine example of Banksy using his talent and platform to advance a philanthropic effort. He gifted the canvas to Southampton General Hospital, and the proceeds from the sale were used to support the wellbeing of the University Hospital’s staff and patients.

 


USD 20 million


 

#3. 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)
Signed ‘Banksy’, center left
Further signed and dated ‘BANKSY OCOTBER 2005’, on the stretcher

READ ABOUT SUNFLOWERS FROM PETROL STATION

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. 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. 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.

#4. 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)

READ ABOUT LOVE IS IN THE AIR

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. 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.  It is indisputable that this bold and declarative work helped to establish Banksy’s place in art history, cementing his reputation as a pivotal and universally heard artistic voice.

 

#5. Devolved Parliament, 2009

Sotheby’s London: 3 October 2019
Estimated: GBP 1,500,000 – 2,000,000
GBP 9,879,500 / USD 12,184,970

BANKSY
Devolved Parliament, 2009
Oil on canvas
250×420 cm (98.4 x 165.4 inches)
Signed; signed, dated 09 on the reverse and variously inscribed on the stretcher

READ ABOUT DEVOLVED PARLIAMENT

Banksy’s largest known canvas (measuring more than 4 meters wide), Devolved Parliament, features chimpanzees sitting in place of the politicians in the House of Commons. Despite being painted in 2009, many commentators have drawn comparisons to current-day politics, and the chaos witnessed in the House of Commons over Brexit. Devolved Parliament was first unveiled as part of the Banksy vs Bristol Museum exhibit in 2009 and was loaned back to the Bristol Museum in March 2019, marking both the exhibit’s 10th anniversary and Britain’s original planned exit from the EU on 29 March 2019.


USD 10 million


#6. Show Me Monet, 2004

Sotheby’s London: 21 October 2020
Estimated: GBP 3,000,000 – 5,000,000

GBP 7,551,600 / USD 9,888,615

BANKSY | SHOW ME THE MONET | Contemporary Art Evening Auction | | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
Show Me The Monet
, 2005
Oil on canvas, in artist’s frame
Framed: 143.1 x 143.4 cm (56.4 x 56.5 inches
Signed

Show me the Monet is one of the most iconic paintings of Banksy’s illustrious career. It is an extremely rare, entirely hand-painted canvas that helped establish Banksy’s position as the controversial and decisive social commentator that we all know and love. It was one of the masterpieces exhibited at Banksy’s landmark 2005 exhibition Crude Oils: A Gallery of Re-mixed Masterpieces, Vandalism and Vermin. 
Banksy repurposes an iconic image in the western canon: Claude Monet’s career-defining view of the Japanese footbridge in his water garden at Giverny. With its tongue-in-cheek pun of a title, Banksy’s painstakingly observed re-painting delivers a complex dialogue that tackles prescient issues of our time, such as the environment and the capitalist landscape of our contemporary moment, not to mention the art establishment and its ongoing identity crisis. With a sumptuously rendered orange traffic cone and a thickly textured shopping trolley disrupting the romance of Monet’s iconic Impressionist masterpiece, Banksy’s version is more twenty-first century fly-tipping spot than timeless idyll. Delivered with the ironic dead-pan immediacy of a punchline, the underlying conceptual complexity at stake here belies its humor. 

#7. 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

BANKSY
Banksquiat. Boy and Dog in Stop and Search, 2018
Acrylic and wax marker on birch wood, in 3 parts
243.8 x 344.5 cm (96 x 135 5/8 inches)
Signed “Banksy” lower right

READ ABOUT BANKSQUIAT. BOY AND DOG IN STOP AND SEARCH

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.

#8. Forgive Us Our Trespassing, 2011

Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 7 October 2020
Estimated: HKD 16,000,000 – 32,000,000
HKD 63,572,000 / USD 8,202,360

BANKSY 班克斯 | FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSING 寬恕我們的罪過 | Contemporary Art Evening Sale | 2020 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY (b. 1974)
FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSING, 2011
Acrylic, spray paint and marker pens on wooden panel, in four parts
Overall: 655×421 cm (257 7/8 x 165 3/4 inches)
Signed

READ ABOUT FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSING

Towering at seven meters in height, Banksy’s monumental Forgive Us Our Trespassing (created in 2011) is the largest known work by the anonymous street artist. The piece is a powerfully resplendent vision – unabashedly brazen while still deeply poignant. While the widely recognizable image of the kneeling boy, accompanied by the title Forgive Us Our Trespassing, first appeared in 2010, the present 7-meter work was created in 2011. Making the piece even more interesting is the fact that more than one hundred 6th-9th grade students at the City of Angels School in Los Angeles contributed to the work. The project was aimed to encourage children to create art – showing us yet again that Banksy’s heart is always in the right place. The students assisted in tagging the stained-glass windows, Forgive Us Our Trespassing goes to the very heart of the spirit of street art and graffiti. The imagery itself, on the other hand, is a potent and moving revelation of Banksy’s conflicted feelings about being a graffiti artist, speaking to deep preoccupations and pathos that underscore his artistic production.

 

#9. 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)

READ ABOUT LOVE IS IN THE AIR

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.

 

#10. 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)

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. 

READ ABOUT TROLLEYS

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. 

#11. 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 6,509,800

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)
Tagged on the turnover edge
Signed Banksy 5/15 and dated 24/4/2006 on the reverse

READ ABOUT LOVE IS IN THE AIR

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.

#12. Subject to Availability, 2009

Christie’s London: 29 June 2021
Estimated: GBP 3,000,000 – 5,000,000
GBP 4,582,500 / USD 6,345,000

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 vandalized 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 dormant volcano at the center of the composition, captioning it ‘*subject to availability for a limited period only’.

READ ABOUT SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY

Subject to Availability neatly juxtaposes environmental destruction and the vandalization of art. The latter has been a key element of Banksy’s practice for nearly two decades, fueled by a desire to liberate creative expression from the lofty bonds of institutional reverence. Having garnered attention as a police-dodging graffiti artist after moving from Bristol to London at the turn of the millennium, he embarked upon a series of pranks that brought the spirit of his urban interventions into the halls of galleries and museums.

#13. Sale Ends Today, 2006

Christie’s Hong-Kong: 23 May 2021
Estimated: HKD 21,000,000 – 28,000,000
HKD 47,050,000 / USD 6,060,000

BANKSY (B. 1974) (christies.com)

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

Created in 2006, Sale Ends Today plays out Banksy’s irreverent humor on an epic scale. Across a vast white canvas more than four meters 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.

#14. Vandalised Oil (Choppers), 2005

Sotheby’s London: 3 March 2022
Estimated: GBP 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
GBP 4,384,900 / USD 5,845,060

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)

READ ABOUT VANDALISED OIL (CHOPPERS)

Weaponized 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; Vandalized 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 Vandalized Oils is, but also of Banksy’s tireless focus on various social issues, most pertinently his anti-war message.

 

#15. 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)

READ ABOUT CRUDE OIL (VETTRIANO)

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.

 


USD 5 million


#16. The Leopard and Lamb, 2016

Phillips Hong-Kong: 31 May 2024
Estimated: HKD 18,000,000 – 28,000,000
HKD 36,750,000 / USD 4,704,905

Banksy – Modern & Contemporary Art Evenin… Lot 9 May 2024 | Phillips

BANKSY
The Leopard and Lamb, 2016
Acrylic on ply, in artist’s frame
148×172 cm (58 1/4 x 67 3/4 inches)
Signed ‘Banksy’ lower right; further signed and dated ‘Banksy 2016’ on the reverse

READ ABOUT THE LEOPARD AND LAMB

The Leopard and Lamb by Banksy is a captivating portrayal that seamlessly integrates the biblical symbolism with the artist’s contemporary socio-political commentary. Exhibited at Banksy’s renowned Walled-Off Hotel in Bethlehem, situated close to the separation wall, and captures a moment of harmony. The work depicts a leopard lying peacefully beside a lamb, invoking the prophetic imagery from Isaiah 11:6: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat.” This visual metaphor not only enriches the biblical reference of natural enemies in serene coexistence but also subtly critiques war and conflict, urging a reflection on the universal hope of peace.

#17. 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

READ ABOUT GIRL WITH BALLOON (DIPTYCH)

Girl and Balloon, first realized in 2003, is without a doubt one of the most iconic images of the 21st century. Instantly recognizable, its enduring success lies within the ease with which it has been disseminated and reproduced online by a new, tech-savvy generation of art lovers. Despite this, its earliest renditions on the streets of London have been lost, and the present series of canvases from 2003 and the subsequent prints released the following year are the only concrete testimony to the work’s appeal.

 

#18. 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 3,905,270

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)

READ ABOUT LOVE IS IN THE AIR

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.

 

#19. Girl with Balloon, 2006

Sotheby’s London: 2 March 2022
Estimated: GBP 2,000,000 – 3,000,000
GBP 2,818,000 / USD 3,766,875

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

READ ABOUT GIRL WITH BALLOON

Banksy’s Girl with Balloon is one of the most iconic artistic motifs in the world. In the present work, coming from the Robbie Williams collection, it reaches its apotheosis. Executed in grand scale, and on a roughly hewn medium that recalls the street-art roots of its creator, this work is one of the most rare and impressive extant iterations of this paradigm-shifting stencil.

 

#20. 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 3,672,655

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.

As the ultimate tongue-in-cheek symbol for his LA show, 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. 

#21. 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)

READ ABOUT DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

One of the most enigmatic figures in contemporary art, Banksy is a highly vocal critic of society, bad actors of capitalism, and the place of graffiti within a greater art historical conversation. Diamond in the Rough speaks to the artist’s beginnings in the urban environment and is a deft combination of readymade surfaces and Banksy’s instantly recognizable style. The composition’s ingenuity lies both in the artist’s seemingly simple choice of subject matter and its ability to start a conversation about the art form at large. Leveraging the perceived rebelliousness attached to street artists in order to bring more attention to their work and his own cultural statements, examples such as the present work are testaments to the place of street art in the canon and the inability to fully extract it from its perceived history. Working to incorporate the city itself into his work, Banksy activates walls, doors, and various found objects with his stencils, sprays, and brush in an effort to pay homage to the living organism that is the metropolitan sector. Never content to work within the confines of a prescribed space, the artist’s myriad ventures spread across the globe in a variety of provocative forms.

 

#22. Laugh Now, 2006

Sotheby’s London: 29 June 2021
Estimated: GBP 2,500,000 – 3,500,000

GBP 2,435,000 / USD 3,371,975

Laugh Now | 《現在儘管笑吧》 | Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale | 2021 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
Laugh Now
, 2006
Spray-paint on metal
129.5 x 91 cm (51 x 35.9 inches)

A majority of Banksy’s works available on the market have been executed on canvas. The artist is at his best when combining his scathing, jet-black humor with a material that reflects the aesthetic of urban life and the authenticity of his intentions. Outside of the Think Tank series on metal panels commissioned by the pop band Blur, examples of his signature stencils on metal are incredibly rare and highly sought after.

READ ABOUT LAUGH NOW

In its raw immediacy and use of a found-industrial material as the painting’s foundation, we are reminded of the central paradoxes of Banksy’s career: at once poignant and pun-fueled, he toes the line between vandal and creator, creating works of acerbic impact that advocate for the marginalized in society. The chimpanzee or monkey is one of the most powerful motifs in Banksy’s arsenal. With a full and detailed stencil composition articulated in a wider than usual range of spray-painted tones and on large scale also unusual for this motif, this unique painting on metal is an exceptional and quintessential example of Banksy’s work.

#23. 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

BANKSY
Forgive Us Our Trespassing, 2011
Spray paint and domestic gloss on plywood
244×122 cm (96 1/8 x 48 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Banksy 11’ on the reverse

READ ABOUT FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSING

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.

#24. Laugh Now Panel A, 2002

Phillips Hong-Kong: 8 June 2021
Estimated: HKD 22,000,000 – 32,000,000
HKD 24,450,000 / USD 3,150,813

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporary Ar… Lot 22 June 2021 | Phillips

BANKSY
Laugh Now Panel A, 2002
Spray paint and emulsion on dry wall, in artist’s frame
178.5 x 74 cm (70.2 x 29.1 inches)

Rendered in his signature monochrome stenciled style, Laugh Now Panel A is immediately recognizable as one of Banksy’s most iconic motifs, featuring a forlorn monkey with slumped shoulders wearing a sandwich board that bears the foreboding pledge, “Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge.” As a culturally formidable image that conveys more than it initially may suggest, the present work masterfully encapsulates Banksy’s ability to distil complex statements into a powerful means of artistic expression.

The present work is thus rare, not only because it was also created in the year 2002, making it one of Banksy’s first Laugh Now creations, but also because this specific iteration – Laugh Now Panel A– boasts the historical significance of having been unveiled at the artist’s first Los Angeles show (and fourth ever solo show in a formal exhibition space), which was hosted at 33 1/3 Gallery between 19 July – 18 August 2002. Titled Existencilism, the exhibition debuted works including Queen Victoria and Love is in the air, which along with his Laugh Now chimps, are now considered icons of our times.

#25. 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)

Gas Mask Boy portrays a crouched young boy wearing a respirator mask. The screen of his respirator reflects the ethereal vision of a blooming field… This work contains some of the conceptual paradoxes Banksy 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.

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. 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.

 


USD 3 million


#26. MEDITERRANEAN SEA VIEW, 2017

Sotheby’s London: 28 July 2020
Estimated: GBP 800,000 – 1,200,000
GBP 2,235,000 / USD 2,893,580

BANKSY (b. 1975)
MEDITERRANEAN SEA VIEW, 2017
Reworked oil paintings in artist’s frames, in three parts
(i) 83 x 68 cm (32 3/4 x 26 3/4 inches)
(ii) 115 x 84.5 cm (45 1/4 x 33 1/4 inches)
(iii) 69.8 x 59.5 cm (27 1/2 x 59 1/2 inches)
Signed on the third canvas

Comprising three found oil paintings, each traditionally framed and depicting tumultuous seascapes reminiscent of Romantic era paintings and present-day imitations, Mediterranean Sea View juxtaposes a historic fine art genre with grim contemporaneity. Banksy reworked the original compositions by adding a slew of hand-painted life jackets and buoys – a visual amendment that evokes mass death at sea. Indeed, as inferred by the work’s title, Mediterranean Sea View alludes to the lives lost at sea during the European migrant ‘crisis’ of the 2010s.

READ ABOUT MEDITERRANEAN SEA VIEW

All proceeds went towards building a new acute stroke unit and purchasing children’s rehabilitation equipment for BASR Hospital in Bethlehem. Mediterranean Sea View was installed in the lobby of the Walled Off Hotel in the Palestinian town of BethlehemMediterranean Sea View was created for display over the rubble-filled fireplace in the colonial-styled hotel lobby. Adorning the walls amongst button-back armchairs, velvet curtains, and dark-wood paneling, this work reads as the perfect adornment for a nineteenth-century bourgeois interior.

#27. 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

Girl with Balloon, first realized in 2003, is without a doubt one of the most iconic images of the 21st century. Instantly recognizable, its enduring success lies within the ease with which it has been disseminated and reproduced online by a new, tech-savvy generation of art lovers. Despite this, its earliest renditions on the streets of London have been lost, and the present series of canvases from 2003 and the subsequent prints released the following year are the only concrete testimony to the work’s appeal.

READ ABOUT GIRL WITH BALLOON

Instantly gettable, Banksy’s 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.

 

#28. 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 

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)

READ ABOUT THIS IS NOT A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

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.

 

#29. Sorry The Lifestyle You Ordered Is Currently Out Of Stock

Sotheby’s New-York, 28 October 2020
Estimated: USD 2,000,000 – 3,000,000
USD 2,319,000

BANKSY (DEFACED HIRST) | SORRY THE LIFESTYLE YOU ORDERED IS CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK | Contemporary Art Evening Auction | 2020 | Sotheby’s

BANKSY
Sorry The Lifestyle You Ordered Is Currently Out of Stock (Defaced Hirst)
,
2013-2014
Spray paint, emulsion and household gloss on canvas
99.1×114.3 cm (39×45 inches)
Sorry The Lifestyle you Ordered is Currently Out of Stock is a Damien Hirst Pharmaceutical (spot) painting which Banksy has defaced. It is the second time a Defaced Hirst appeared at auction, Keep It Spotless, featuring an iconic Banksy‘s stencil of a maid sold at auction in 2008 already for a record price.

 

This time Banksy takes another angle using an expression he has been widely sharing all along his career, attaching it to a “lifestyle”, which is not only a criticism against consumerism, but also against the way art collectors might be purchasing artworks, not for their artistic qualities, but rather for what they mean in terms of lifestyle.

 

#30. Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be in Charge, 2000

Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 18 June 2021
Estimated: HKD 6,200,000 – 9,300,000
HKD 18,920,000 / USD 2,282,681

Banksy 班克斯 | Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be in Charge 現在儘管笑吧,終有一天我們將為主宰者 | Contemporary Curated: Asia | JAY CHOU x SOTHEBY’S | Evening Sale | 2021 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

BANKSY
Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be in Charge
, 2000
Acrylic and spray paint on canvas
61×61 cm (24×24 inches)

READ ABOUT LAUGH BUT ONE DAY

Throughout his career Banksy’s art has been frequently dismissed as crass or glib; yet in spite of this, his work can be seen to fit into a rich and venerable history of political parody. From the British pictorial satirists of the Eighteenth Century, including Thomas Rowlandson, James Gillray and, of course, the great William Hogarth, through to the allegorical writings of George Orwell whose revolutionary novel Animal Farm similarly utilized zoological symbolism to critique modern society, and on to the political cartoonists of the present day, Banksy’s finest work is situated within an esteemed tradition of raising an unforgiving and illuminating mirror up to the world.

#31. Monkey Detonator, 2000

Christie’s New-York: 8 November 2021
Estimated: USD 1,800,000 – 2,500,000
USD 2,190,000

BANKSY (christies.com)

BANKSY
Monkey Detonator, 2000
Spray paint on canvas
30×30 inches (76.2 x 76.2 cm)
This work is from a varying series and is accompanied by original Metropolitan Police tag

 

#32. 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

BANKSY (B. 1974)
Congestion Charge, 2004
Oil on canvas in the artist’s frame
68.5 x 78.7 cm (26 15/16 x 31 inches)
Tagged; signed and dated Dec 2004 on the overlap
Congestion Charge from 2004 is a unique and rare example of Banksy’s Vandalized Oil series also referred to as Crude Oils. Bought from Santa’s Ghetto by Sir Paul Smith in 2004, the work has remained in the British fashion icon’s distinguished private collection ever since and comes to auction for the very first time. Made famous through a now iconic show in 2005 with the same title, the Crude Oils consist of reimagined old master paintings such as such as Show Me The Monet and Sunflowers From Petrol Station alongside modified traditional oils on canvas like the present work. Bought at flea markets around London, Banksy would add his own subversive touches to classical canvas paintings, a congestion charge sign in an otherwise idyllic traditional landscape, injecting new paradoxical meaning into the outdated artwork. This act of subversion serves as a commentary on the commercialization of art and the collective memory of historical and present events. Banksy’s modifications challenge the original context and narrative of the paintings, highlighting the power of art to disrupt and provoke critical thought about societal issues and the role of art in shaping collective consciousness.

#33. Home Sweet Home, 2006

Phillips London: 2 March 2023
Estimated: GBP 1,500,000 – 2,500,000
GBP 1,742,000 / USD 2,079,751

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

BANKSY
Home Sweet Home, 2006
Modified oil on canvas, in artist’s frame
80×110 cm (31 1/2 x 43 1/4 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Bansky 06’ on the reverse

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 Vandalised 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.

#34. Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be In Charge


Christie’s New-York: 11 May 2021
USD 2,070,000

BANKSY
Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be In Charge
, 2002
Spray-paint and emulsion on paperboard
76×102 cm (30 x 41 1/8 inches)

Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be in Charge
contains one of the most celebrated motifs used by the enigmatic British artist known as Banksy. Rising to fame in the 1990s, the much-lauded and mischievous instigator uses biting imagery—including his iconic chimpanzees—to create political and social commentary in his signature stenciled form. The present work is a prime example of Banksy’s mixture of wry wit and biting criticism on contemporary society.

READ ABOUT LAUGH NOW BUT ONE DAY WE’LL BE IN CHARGE

Powerful for its ability to exist in the street and gallery simultaneously, Banksy’s work consistently proves that he is inspired by the very pulse of modern life. The artist’s ability of cutting to the heart of contemporary issues for decades has made him a household name, even while his true identity remains unknown.

 

#35. 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 2,059,975

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

BANKSY
Sorry The Lifestyle You Ordered Is Currently Out Of Stock, 2012
Spray paint on found canvas on graffed board, in artist’s frame
106.7 x 166.4 cm (42 x 65 1/2 inches)
Signed ‘BANKSY’ lower right; signed and dated ‘BANKSY 12’ on the reverse

READ ABOUT SORRY THE LIFESTYLE YOU ORDERED IS CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK

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.

#36. Hummingbird, 2015

Christie’s Hong-Kong: 24 May 2021
Estimated: HKD 11,000,000 – 16,000,000
HKD 15,850,000 / USD 2,041,184

BANKSY (B.1974), Hummingbird | Christie’s (christies.com)

BANKSY (B.1974)
Hummingbird, 2015
Fiberglass, spray paint and emulsion on board in the original frame by the artist
65x55x40 cm (25 5/8 x 21 5/8 x 15 3/4 inches)
Signed ‘BANKSY’ (lower right)
This work is unique from a varied series

In Hummingbird, Banksy makes a poignant claim for the importance of graffiti—and of art at large—by invoking the vitality of the natural world. Within a battered gold frame, he depicts a section of concrete wall daubed, splashed and sprayed with paint: the central white splash is improvised into a flower with the addition of a black-sprayed stem and pair of leaves.

In a masterful use of trompe l’oeil, a meticulously painted hummingbird hovers, drinking from the flower with its long bill. The bird’s body is not contained within the picture plane but overlays the gold frame so as to break the ‘fourth wall’ of the painting. It is a powerful image, transforming the graffitied splash into a nurturing burst of floral beauty.

 

#37. Brace Yourself!, 2010

Julien’s Auctions: 29 March 2023
Estimated: USD 600,000 – 800,000
USD 2,032,000

Julien’s Auctions (juliensauctions.com)

BANKSY (b. 1974)
Brace Yourself!, 2010
Acrylic on canvas
244×183 cm (8×6 feet)
Signed and dated to the lower left center

#38. Monkey Poison

Phillips New-York: 2 July 2020
Estimated: USD 1,800,000 – 2,500,000
USD 2,000,000

Banksy – 20th Century and Contemporary … Lot 12 July 2020 | Phillips

BANKSY
Monkey Poison
,
2004
Oil and spray enamel on found canvas in artist’s frame
61x91cm (24 x 35 5/8 inches)


Stenciled in spray paint atop an Old Master’s reproduction encased in a gilded frame,
Monkey Poison, created in 2004, exemplifies the satirical overtones of Banksy’s renowned street art transferred to the realm of “high art.” Perched atop a tree branch, Banksy’s monkey intrudes upon a countryside vignette, guzzling gasoline from a carton labeled with a flammable sign.

READ ABOUT MONKEY POISON

Banksy here utilizes zoological symbolism to ridicule contemporary society through a darkly humorous lens. Bridging the disparate realms of graffiti and high art, Monkey Poison is Banksy’s own tongue-in-cheek response to the corrupt modern-day world that we inhabit, inviting both laughter and contemplation from those who encounter it. The monkey, a recurring motif for the artist since the early 2000s, which has now become one of his most iconic and extensively reproduced images, overlooks this pastoral scene with eyes wide-open, ostensibly unaware of the poison he consumes. 

 


USD 2 million


#39. Flower Thrower Triptych, 2017

Christie’s New-York: 21 February 2024
The Collection of Sir Elton John

Estimated: USD 1,000,000 – 1,500,000
USD 1,925,500

BANKSY, Flower Thrower Triptych | Christie’s (christies.com)

BANKSY
Flower Thrower Triptych, 2017
Spray paint on canvas in artist’s frame, in three parts
Left panel: 84.5 x 64.1 cm (33 1/4 x 25 1/4 inches)
Center panel: 106.7 x 76.2 cm (42×30 inches)
Right panel: 42.2 x 52.3 cm (16 5/8 x 20 5/8 inches
Overall: 106.7 x 203.2 cm (42×80 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Banksy 2017’ (on the reverse of the left panel)

READ ABOUT FLOWER THROWER TRIPTYCH

Thrower presents a variation of one of Banksy’s most iconic visuals entitled Love Is In The Air (Flower Thrower). The work shows a man with a bandana over his face frozen in the act of throwing neither a brick nor a Molotov cocktail, but a bouquet of flowers. This image conveys a message of peace. Except that is in this particular version, the visual is split into three parts, and presented as a deconstructed tryptic.


#40. Keep It Spotless

Sotheby’s New-York: 14 February 2008
Estimated: USD 250,000 – 350,000
USD 1,870,000

(#34) Banksy (defaced Hirst)

BANKSY
Keep It Spotless,
2007
Household gloss and spray-paint on canvas
214×305 cm (84 1/4 x 120 1/8 inches)

Signed and dated 2007 on the reverse

Keep It Spotless is a Damien Hirst Pharmaceutical (spot) painting which Banksy has defaced. This visual first appeared on a wall on Chalk Farm Road, London in 2006. It portrays a woman dressed as a maid who is sweeping dirt under the cover of a brick wall.

READ ABOUT KEEP IT SPOTLESS

Spot paintings are among Damien Hirst’s most recognizable and popular works. In total, the artist has created 13 subseries of paintings that exist within the spots category. Of all the spot subseries, the Pharmaceutical series is the first and most prolific. So far, there are over 1000 known examples of his pharmaceutical paintings produced between 1986 and 2011.


#41. Girl with Ice Cream on Palette

Bonhams London: 24 March 2021
Estimated: GBP 300,000 – 500,000
GBP 1,102,750 / USD 1,511,886

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 1/2 x 19 11/16 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 a ponytail 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 aging and possible hopes for the future.

#42. Vote To Love


Sotheby’s London: 11 February 2020
Estimated: GBP 400,000 – 600,000
GBP 1,155,000 / USD 1,494,758

(#3) BANKSY | Vote to Love

BANKSY
Vote To Love
,
2018
Spray-paint on UPIK placard mounted on board
117×116.5×8.5 cm (46 x 45 7/8 x 3 1/4 inches)
Executed in 2018, Vote to Love is a subversive painting from the anonymous street artist’s seditious and politically charged oeuvre. To create the work, Banksy defaced a found “Vote to Leave” placard from the UK’s 2016 Brexit campaign, led by UKIP’s then-leader, Nigel Farage.
The composition depicts a red, heart-shaped balloon, patched up with crisscrossed plasters, which has drifted in front of the placard’s slogan, altering the word “LEAVE” to “LOVE”. With its striking simplicity and raw immediacy, Vote to Love offers a message of optimism at a time of increasing divisiveness in global politics.

#43. Girl with Balloon, 2006

Sotheby’s London: 5 October 2018
Estimated: GBP 200,000 – 300,000
GBP 1,042,000 / USD 1,365,482

(#67) BANKSY | Girl with Balloon

BANKSY
Girl with Balloon, 2006
Spray paint and acrylic on canvas, mounted on board, in artist’s frame
101x78x18 cm (39 3/4 x 30 3/4 x 7 inches)
Signed and dedicated on the reverse

On 5 October 2018, a version of Balloon Girl with the artist’s frame got sold at Sotheby’s London for over £1 million. However, shortly after the gavel dropped and it was sold, an alarm sounded inside of the picture frame and the canvas passed through a shredder hidden within the frame, partially shredding the image.
The prank received wide news coverage around the world, with one newspaper stating that it was “quite possibly the biggest prank in art history.” Banksy then released a video on how the shredder was installed into the frame and the shredding of the picture, explaining that he had surreptitiously fitted the painting with the shredder a few years previously, in case it ever went up for auction. To explain his rationale for destroying his own artwork, Banksy quoted Picasso: “The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.”

#44. Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be In Charge, 2002

Phillips London: 14 October 2022
Estimated: GBP 1,000,000 – 1,500,000
GBP 1,172,000 / USD 1,313,901

Banksy – 20th Century & Contemporary… Lot 25 October 2022 | Phillips

BANKSY
Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be In Charge, 2002
Spray paint and emulsion on canvas
91×91 cm (35 7/8 x 35 7/8 inches)
Stenciled with the artist’s tag ‘BANKSY’ lower right
Signed, numbered and dated ‘BANKSY 03/05 2002’ on the stretcher
This work is number 3 from an edition of 5 unique examples

 

#45. 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)


#47. Simple Intelligence Testing

Sotheby’s London, 28 February 2008
Estimated: GBP 100,000 – 150,000
GBP 635,500 / USD 1,262,145

BANKSY
Simple Intelligence Testing
,
2000
Oil on canvas laid onto board, in 5 parts
Each 91.5×91.5 cm (36×36 inches)

Simple Intelligence Testing
, made of 5 parts painted on canvases, tells the story of a chimpanzee undergoing an intelligence testing and opening safes in order to find the prize – in this case, a hand of bananas.
The story ends by this especially clever chimpanzee stacking all the safes on top of each other and escaping the laboratory through the ventilation opening on the ceiling that is out of view in the other paintings.

#45. 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)

wpChatIcon
wpChatIcon