
‘Can’t Beat That Feeling…’
Napalm is probably one of the most poignant and striking print that Banksy created, cementing his position as one of the pioneering political contemporary artists. This artwork is a striking statement against the military-industrialist complex linking warfare with capitalism that Banksy is criticizing all along his oeuvre. More widely, this work also encapsulates a critique of the sometimes disastrous impact of colonialism, and occupation. Banksy reinvents the Pulitzer Prize-winning image of this 9-year-old girl, fleeing a napalm blast naked in fear. By wittingly adding alongside two icons of American consumer culture, Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald, the artist creates a sickening juxtaposition with the image of Kim screaming in pain from the napalm burns. Napalm comments not just on the horrors of the Vietnam war, but of the then recent US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The comparison of one of the most provocative and horrifying photographs of war with two symbols of American culture highlights the commodification of war.


James Pfaff, Welder’s mask session, London, 2004

DESCRIPTION
Napalm
Year: 2004
Medium: Screen-print in colors on wove paper
Size: 50×70 cm (19 5/8 x 27 1/2 inches)
Publisher: Pictures on Walls
Editions
Signed Edition: 150
Unsigned Edition: 500
Artist’s Proof Editions
Napalm (Rainbow AP): 27 signed AP
Napalm (Orange AP):27 signed AP
COLORWAYS


The Serpentine Edition
The Serpentine Edition is a special release that coincided with a Damien Hirst exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery. As included in “In the Darkest Hour there May be Light”, co-published by the Serpentine Gallery and Other Criteria, London.

Digital pigment print in colors on wove paper
30×42 cm
Published by The Serpentine Gallery and Other Criteria London
AUCTION RESULTS
FOR A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF AUCTION RESULTS
PLEASE CHECK BANKSY VALUE: 2004 PRINTS
YOU WILL ONLY FIND THE MOST RECENT AUCTION RESULTS BELOW
Napalm (unsigned) sold twice at auction in 2025 so far.
Estimated: SEK 175,000 – 200,000
SEK 168,750 / USD 17,215

Screenprint
Numbered in pencil 163/500 with the publisher’s blindstamp
Forum Auctions: 5 March 2025
Estimated: GBP 7,000 – 9,000
GBP 6,800 (Hammer)
GBP 8,920 / USD 11,500
BANKSY (b.1974)
Napalm (unsigned), 2004
Screenprint in colors on wove paper
Numbered from the edition of 500 in pencil with the publisher’s blindstamp
Napalm (signed) sold once at auction so far in 2025.
Tate Ward Auctions: 19 March 2025
Estimated: GBP 15,000 – 25,000
GBP 18,750 / USD 24,170
BANKSY (British 1974-)
‘Napalm’ (signed), 2004
Screenprint in colors on wove paper
Signed, dated and numbered 96/150 in pencil