BANKSY
Portrait of An Artist, 1998
Oil on Canvas
100×141 cm (39 3/8 x 55 1/2 inches)
Stenciled signed, lower left
Exhibited
Easton, Bristol, 1999
Auction History
Bonhams London: 11 January 2011
GBP 60,000 / USD 80,833
Bonhams : Banksy (British, born 1975) ‘Portrait of an Artist’, circa 1998
This canvas is believed to be the first work created by the artist for sale.
In Portrait of an Artist, Banksy subverts the classic motif of the painter and the model. A traditionally dressed artist stands at his easel, brush in hand, painting a human nude from life. But the twist lies in the model: not a human, but a bizarre, playful alien-like creature posed against lush red curtains. The painter, however, seems oblivious to the creature’s unique form, rendering a classical human figure instead. The result is both humorous and cutting: a critique of the limitations of artistic perception and the human tendency to project our own image onto the unfamiliar.
Rendered in Banksy’s unmistakable stenciled and painterly hybrid style, the work echoes themes of artifice, misrepresentation, and the selective nature of vision. With its sci-fi model and retro art studio setting, the piece feels like a mash-up of Velázquez and The Muppet Show, laced with Banksy’s signature irony.
Whether it’s a comment on art history, human narcissism, or the absurdity of contemporary culture, Portrait of an Artist invites us to consider: are we really seeing what’s in front of us, or only what we want to see?
This painting by Banksy recalls Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas, particularly in the composition showing an artist at work, seen from behind, painting a figure we cannot fully see. In Las Meninas, the painter captures the royal couple while surrounded by a cast of curious onlookers, raising questions about perception and representation. Banksy humorously twists this idea: instead of faithfully painting what he sees, a strange, alien-like creature, the artist paints a classical human nude, highlighting the absurdity of projecting familiar ideals onto unfamiliar realities.
