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Laugh Now, 2003

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Laugh Now, 2003
Editions: 150 signed, 600 unsigned

‘Laugh Now, but one day we’ll be in charge’

Laugh Now portrays a forlorn monkey, wearing a sandwich board suggesting that he is oppressed or enslaved. Along with the rat, the monkey is one of Banksy’s most frequently used animal characters, to satirize the nature of humankind. Laugh Now could well be a criticism of the way humans have been treating animals, our primate cousins, whether poaching or capturing them for entertainment, or medical testing. The ominous text on the board is both mocking and threatening, suggesting that the character is preparing an uprising, as if Banksy is warning of an imminent revolution. It is also the artist’s humorous take on Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Laugh Now, 2002
Stencil spray paint on painted board, in 3 parts
107.5 x 604.5 cm (42 3/8 x 237 7/8 inches)
Laugh Now was first commissioned in 2002 by the Ocean Rooms Nightclub on Morley Street in Brighton. It was originally a six-meter-long spray-painted mural, with the figure of the monkey repeated ten times in a row to form a backdrop to the Brighton bar. Laugh Now perfectly encapsulates Banksy’s modus operandi while conjuring the dark thematic elements that underlie such a comic piece. Ten monkeys, the last only present in half its form, stand side-by-side, full frontal and unashamed to display their sandwich-board messages. Though four figures bear no words at all, six communicate a very specific memo: “Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge.” The spare black spray paint upon the bleached white board lends the normally mischievous primates a sinister air, their expressions eliminated in a hyper-saturation of darkness. It is as if Banksy has multiplied their numbers into something resembling an army, daring observers to take pleasure in their misfortune.

Rivington Street, London, 2002

Banksy’s history as a street artist and his efforts to conceal his identity make his artistic figures his only interactive surrogates. Bearing this in mind, the monkeys upon the panel not only assume an anarchistic quality—promising full revenge upon their rise to power—but also make for a fascinating study into the future of street art. And, as his exhibition spaces shift from urban alleyways to galleries, Banksy paints a fascinating commentary on the current state of contemporary art.

 

 

Even though no mural remains with this iconic stencil, Banksy realized many originals on various media using the Laugh Now stencil. Those command high prices at auction.

 

Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be In Charge, 2000
Acrylic and stencil spray-paint on canvas
61×61 cm (24×24 inches)
Sotheby’s Hong-Kong, 18 June 2021
USD 2,280,000

 

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)
Christie’s London, 11 May 2021
GBP 1,460,000 / USD 2,070,000

 


DESCRIPTION


Laugh Now

Year: 2003
Medium: Screen-print in colors on wove paper
Size: 70×50 cm (27 1/2 x 19 3/4 inches)
Publisher: Pictures on Walls

Editions

Signed Edition: 150
Unsigned Edition: 600 

Artist’s Proofs: 69 signed AP

 


AUCTION RESULTS


Updated as of 1 August 2023

 

1. Laugh Now (unsigned)

 

 

 

 

Sotheby’s online: 20 April 2023
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 40,000
GBP 50,800 / USD 63,238

Laugh Now (unsigned), 2003
Numbered 546/600 in pencil with the publisher’s blindstamp, lower right

———-

Christie’s online: 14 March 2023
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 40,320 / USD 49,594

Laugh Now (unsigned), 2003-2004
Numbered 457/600 in pencil, lower right

———–

Phillips London: 23 January 2023
Estimated: GBP 25,000 – 35,000
GBP 75,600 / USD 92,988

Laugh Now, 2003
Numbered 325/600 in pencil, lower right

———

Sotheby’s online: 17 August 2022
Estimated: GBP 24,000 – 35,000
GBP 37,800 / USD 45,360

Laugh Now, 2004
Numbered 172/600 in pencil, lower right

———

Sotheby’s online: 26 April 2022
GBP 52,920 / USD 66,679

Laugh Now (unsigned), 2003
Numbered and inscribed 264/600 DN in pencil, lower right
———
Sotheby’s online, 17 September 2021

GBP 56,700 / USD 78,813

Laugh Now (unsigned), 2003
Numbered 522/600 in pencil, lower right

 


2. Laugh Now (signed)

 


Sotheby’s online: 20 April 2023

Estimated: GBP 60,000 – 80,000
GBP 76,200 / USD 94,857

Laugh Now (signed), 2003
S
igned in pencil, lower right
Inscribed with a gift, heart and peace symbol, lower left
Aside from the signed and numbered edition of 150

———

Sotheby’s online: 17 August 2022
GBP 75,600 / USD 90,720

Laugh Now (signed AP), 2003
Signed in pencil, lower right
Inscribed AP/15 in pencil with the publisher’s blindstamp, lower right

———–

Sotheby’s online: 17 September 2021

GBP 100,800 / USD 140,112

Laugh Now (signed), 2003
Signed in pencil, lower right
Inscribed ‘4 BRENDAN’ with a peace symbol, lower left
aside from the numbered edition of 150
———
Phillips London: 14 June 2021

GBP 151,200 / USD 214,704

Laugh Now (signed), 2003
Signed and dated in black ink, lower right
Numbered 56/150 in pencil with the publisher’s blindstamp, lower right

———-

Sotheby’s online: 18 March 2021
GBP 151,200 / USD 210,168
Laugh Now (signed), 2003
Signed and dated in black ink, lower right
Numbered 76/150 in pencil with the publisher’s blindstamp, lower right
———-
Bonhams London: 25 February 2021
GBP 200,250 / USD 282,719
Laugh Now (signed), 2003
Signed and dated in black ink, lower right
Numbered 86/150 in pencil with the publisher’s blindstamp, lower right