David Shrigley standing in front of his Fourth Plinth sculpture, ‘Really Good’
British artist David Shrigley has garnered a significant following with his witty, whimsical, wryly humorous artwork. Much of his art is executed in a deliberately rudimentary, almost childlike style, though it always contains a shrewder underlying message about humanity and the way we live our lives.
Interest in Shrigley’s work has really increased in the last few years, especially in the United Kingdom. His prints are particularly popular; they account for 87% of his work sold at auction, and they usually fetch between £1,000 and £5,000, often exceeding their estimates.
If you own a David Shrigley print, why not get in touch with Mark Littler today to find out more about how much it might be worth, or how to sell it? Below is a list of the artist’s seven most sought-after prints.
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My Rampage Is Over
This screenprint in colours dates from 2019, and it is a wonderful example of David Shrigley’s simplistic, childlike illustrations accompanied by scrawled text. The My Rampage Is Over prints are among Shrigley’s most popular on today’s market, and they account for eight out of ten of the artist’s most expensive prints sold at auction. This particular one was sold for £18,000 in June 2023 by Phillips, more than double its estimate.
The text in this print (“I must rest, my rampage is over”) is more gentle and introspective than Shrigley’s usual wry statements. Along with prints bearing phrases such as “I cannot live without you, and you cannot live without me”, or, quite simply, “Be nice”, this suggests a kind, reflective side to the artist who is best known for his dry, subversive humour and wit.
Live Each Day As If It Were Your First
Imbued with optimism and zest for life, this screenprint was sold by Phillips in June 2023 for £15,000, five times its estimate. The unbridled enthusiasm tinged by naïveté in this print is touching, exuding the childlike innocence and hope that marks so much of Shrigley’s work.
The crude, rough style of Shrigley’s art is a conscious choice, and part of the instinctive process through which he creates his art. The artist once said: “I went from being the best artist in my class when I was six to being the worst at art when I was at art school… so then I just went back to drawing the same way that I’ve always drawn ever since I was a little kid, albeit the subject matter changed over the years.”
Live Each Day As If It Were Your First sold by Phillips in 2023
Untitled (I Am Listening)
David Shrigley’s dry humour is excellently demonstrated in this print, which was sold by Sotheby’s in March 2022 for £9,000, tripling its estimate. The message of the print (“I am listening, but you don’t make any sense”) highlights the artist’s subversive wit and willingness to defy convention and authority; it is an undercurrent that runs throughout much of his work, and it’s reflected in his approach to life, too. When discussing the 2:2 he was awarded from the Glasgow School of Art, Shrigley wryly commented: “They didn’t appreciate my genius.”
Untitled (I Am Listening) sold by Sotheby’s in 2022
Untitled (A Gap In The Clouds)
David Shrigley has an enduring interest in “the way language and images work together”. Much of his artwork reflects this, including one of his latest projects, Pulped Fiction, in which the artist produced a limited run of 1,250 copies of Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell’s seminal novel, from the pulped remains of Dan Brown’s popular but less highly-acclaimed The Da Vinci Code.
Untitled (A Gap In the Clouds) also plays into the artist’s interest in words and images, as the text is vital to understanding the message of the artwork. The 2020 print was sold in April 2021 by Phillips for £8,667, more than six times its estimate.
Untitled (A Gap In The Clouds) sold by Phillip’s in 2021
To Hell With Zoos
Many of David Shrigley’s prints are centred around animals, and this one is no exception. It was sold by Phillips in January 2023 for £8,500, almost tripling its estimate, and its message (“To hell with zoos, free the penguins first”) makes Shrigley’s feelings on the subject pretty clear. Though he is not usually overtly political, the artist has taken a stand on some issues, and he even designed a t-shirt to protest Russia’s treatment of the subversive punk-rock collective, Pussy Riot.
To Hell With Zoos sold by Phillip’s in 2023
My Artwork Is Terrible
In interviews, David Shrigley comes across as a softly-spoken, self-effacing man; it seems his success has not altered his affable personality, and he always answers questions thoughtfully and truthfully, without taking himself too seriously.
My Artwork Is Terrible embodies this ability to laugh at oneself with its message reading: “My artwork is terrible and I am a very bad person”. The humorous print dates from 2018, and it was sold by Tate Ward in September 2021 for £8,400.
My Artwork is Terrible sold by Tate Ward in 2021
Be Kind To Everyone
This screenprint from 2022 was sold by Sotheby’s in March 2023 for £8,000, and it reflects a key concept at the heart of much of Shrigley’s work: kindness. The anthropomorphisation of the watering can and the flower helps to reinforce the instruction to “be kind to everyone and everything”, and the entire print is suffused with a gentle joyfulness.
There is an unquenchable optimism to much of Shrigley’s work, which is perhaps one of the reasons he’s become so popular in the last few years. In 2016, the artist won the commission to display his sculpture, Really Good, on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth. Really Good is a sculpture of a hand making a thumbs-up gesture, with an absurdly long thumb; the artist stated the piece was “a work about making the world a better place… which is obviously a ridiculous proposition, but I think it’s a good proposition.”
Be Kind To Everyone sold by Sotheby’s in 2023
