![]() ![]() In August 2021, Banksy undertook a ‘ Great British Spraycation’ and installed several graffiti pieces in sites on the east coast of England. He strikes with no prior warning, so the next city or dwelling to be sprayed could be yours. Since the 1990s, Banksy has ‘bombed’ cities across the UK, including London, Brighton and Bristol, as well as urban hotspots across America, Australia and Canada. The price set a new world record for a Banksy edition at the time of sale.īy the late 2000s, the art world had caught up with Banksy’s popular appeal, and many of his surviving works (those which had not been removed by overzealous council graffiti-removal teams) had been removed from their original public settings and sold, without the artist’s consent.īanksy has always wanted his street-art pieces to remain in their original contexts, and it is important to note that they will not be authenticated by the artist or his team if they have been removed. In September 2020, Christie’s sold an artist’s proof with a purple balloon for £791,250, more than triple its low estimate. There are variations of the image in red, purple, pink and gold. ![]() ‘Editions of this iconic artwork are some of the most desirable Banksy pieces at auction,’ says Baskerville. Girl with Balloon, depicting a girl extending her hand towards a heart-shaped balloon, was originally a series of stencil murals first sprayed in London in 2002 and is synonymous with the artist. ![]() His most iconic images fetch the highest pricesīanksy’s most sought-after editions, canvases and sculptures are often directly inspired by his graffiti art. ‘People were often buying the art as if it was a poster, with no awareness of its future value.’īanksy continued to sell his work in later, now-famous solo exhibitions, including Barely Legal in Los Angeles in 2006, and Banksy versus Bristol Museum in 2009. They were sold for low prices in order to democratise his art and make it accessible,’ explains Baskerville. ‘Banksy didn’t create prints to make money. His screenprint Morons lampoons the auction world: the image parodies a photograph of Christie’s record-breaking sale of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers in 1987.īanksy has been selling his art since the 1990sĪlongside his street art, Banksy has been creating works for sale for more than 20 years and his earliest commercial prints are from 2002. The irony that the Establishment has embraced his anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian art is not lost on Banksy. So, how did Banksy’s art go from the street to the saleroom? Here, Prints & Multiples specialist James Baskerville explores Banksy’s commercial career and the works that have performed best at auction. It raised £16.8 million and became Banksy’s second most valuable work to have sold at auction. The following March, Christie’s offered the picture, with the proceeds going to charity. In May 2020, Banksy’s canvas Game Changer, which shows a boy playing with a nurse doll dressed as a superhero, appeared overnight in a hospital in England as the artist’s way to thank staff for their contribution to tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. His collectors include celebrity actors, musicians and artists, and even the British Museum, which added a fake banknote depicting Diana, Princess of Wales, to its collection of coins, medals and currency. Banksy has an Academy Award-nominated documentary (2010’s Exit through the Gift Shop), a pop-up ‘bemusement park’ ( Dismaland, created in 2015), a dystopian hotel ( The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem), more than 12 million followers on Instagram and an auction record of £18.5 million to his name. ![]()
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