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Golf Sale, 2003

BY

Golf Sale, 2003
Edition: 750 (150 signed)

‘In 1998, a young Chinese student’s sacrifice taught a valuable lesson to the world. A lesson Banksy has tried to cheapen with glib humor and crass opportunism but that still remains very potent. God Bless That Man.’

Golf Sale is a reinterpretation of Jeff Widener’s iconic photograph taken in the aftermath of the Chinese military’s violent suppression of the 1989 Democracy Movement. A man stands defiantly in front of a line of tanks attempting to block their path. It is widely considered to be one of the most notable acts of non-violent intervention in history. Banksy recreates the scene in black and white, this time, the man is holding a sign reading “GOLF SALE” in the style of the placards often seen around London’s Oxford Street.

‘We can’t do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles.
In the meantime, we should all go shopping to console ourselves.’

Banksy, Banging Your Head Against A Brick Wall, November 2001
 

Banksy pays tribute to the ones who dare to stand up to authority and aims pointed criticism to the capitalism and the consumerism which he identifies as the main culprit for violence and warfare.

 

The Tiananmen Square protests were student-led demonstration held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing during 1989. Military troops armed with assault rifles and accompanied by tanks fired at the demonstrators and those trying to block the military’s advance into Tiananmen Square in what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

 

 

The protests started on April 15 and were forcibly suppressed on June 4 when the government declared martial law and sent the People’s Liberation Army to occupy parts of central Beijing. Estimates of the death toll vary from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands more wounded.

 

Tank Man: Behind Jeff Widener’s Photo of Tianamen Square

 

Jeff Widener, a photographer with the Associated Press, was focusing his camera on a line of tanks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square when out of the blue came this man in a white shirt and dark trousers, carrying what appeared to be shopping bags. At first, Widener was annoyed by the man entering his shot, he thought the man was going to mess up the composition of his frame. Little did he know that he was about to make one of the most iconic photos in history.


DESCRIPTION


Golf Sale

Year: 2003
Medium: Screen-print in black on wove paper
Size: 35×50 cm (13 5/8 x 19 1/2 inches)
Publisher: Pictures on Walls

Editions

Total Edition: 750 (of which 150 signed)

AUCTION RESULTS


FOR A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF AUCTION RESULTS
PLEASE CHECK BANKSY VALUE: EARLY PRINTS
YOU WILL ONLY FIND THE MOST RECENT AUCTION RESULTS BELOW

 

Golf Sale (unsigned) sold twice at auction so far in 2025.

Christie’s online: 1 April 2025
Estimated: GBP 7,000 – 10,000
GBP 10,080 / USD 13,023

BANKSY
Golf Sale (unsigned), 2004
Screenprint in black on wove paper
Stamped with the BANKSY tag in red ink
Numbered 510/750 in pencil (only the first 150 were signed)

LA Modern: 18 March 2025
Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
USD 10,795

BANKSY (b.1975)
Golf Sale (unsigned), 2003
Screenprint on wove paper
Stamped signature to lower right ‘Banksy’
Numbered to lower right ‘730/750 DN’

Golf Sale (signed) sold once at auction so far in 2025.

Bonhams London: 16 April 2025
Estimated: GBP 20,000 – 30,000
GBP 28,160 / USD 37,170
BANKSY (born 1974)
Golf Sale (signed), 2003
Screenprint
Signed in black ink and numbered 90/750 in pencil
With the artist’s red inkstamp
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