Banksy’s wryly humorous ‘Graffiti Area’ which mocks the illegality of graffiti
Despite being anonymous and fiercely private, the graffitist known as Banksy is one of the most well-known artists alive today. Much of his work is, technically, illegal, yet his satirical, anti-establishment murals have cropped up around the world, and whenever a new Banksy appears, it generates intense media attention and speculation.
For Banksy, “the wall is the weapon of choice”, but the artist has also released plenty of prints featuring his most popular motifs. Prints account for nearly 80% of Banksy’s work sold at auction, with most of them reaching prices between £10,000 and £50,000, and some being sold for far more.
Below is a list of Banksy’s most expensive artworks sold at auction. To find out more about how much a Banksy print might be worth, or how to sell it, get in touch with Mark Littler today.
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Girl With Balloon
This particular print dates from 2003, and it was sold by Sotheby’s in June 2021 for £1.7 million. Banksy began working with this motif in 2002, and it quickly became one of his most iconic images, with its different iterations now accounting for 13 out of Banksy’s 20 most expensive prints sold at auction.
It became even more well-known in 2018, after a particularly eventful auction: a framed canvas version of Girl with Balloon was sold by Sotheby’s for £860,000, but after the final hammer fell, the painting was partially shredded by a device the artist had hidden inside the frame. The spectacular stunt garnered widespread media attention, and the resulting artwork (renamed Love is in the Bin by Banksy) hugely increased in value. It was subsequently sold by Sotheby’s in October 2021 for a staggering £16 million, thus setting a new record for the artist.
Girl With Balloon sold by Sotheby’s in 2021
Love Is In The Air
This is another of Banksy’s iconic images which often fetches high prices at auctions. It is also known as Flower Thrower and Flower Bomber among other names, and this print version of it was sold by Christie’s in December 2020 for £407,800, more than £200,000 above its estimate.
The image is striking: though the masked figure is leaning back in an aggressive pose, rather than the missile or weapon we might expect him to be hurling, he is actually grasping a bunch of flowers, a universal symbol of peace. Banksy made a powerful political statement when he graffitied the image in Jerusalem shortly after the West Bank Wall was erected. The image also appears on the cover of the artist’s most well-known book, Wall and Piece.
Love Is In The Air sold by Christie’s in 2020
Keep It Real
Along with rats, monkeys are one of Banksy’s most commonly used animals, often playing on the idea that monkeys are primitive and intellectually simple in comparison with humans. To Banksy, the monkey is the underdog which can be used to mock the establishment and preconceived ideas of superiority. The artist has stated: “If I want to say something about people, I use a monkey.”
Keep it Real was sold by Sotheby’s in October 2021 for £400,000. In the print, the monkey looks dejected and subjugated, and it is wearing a sandwich board around its neck bearing the title of the piece. Despite this, it is a powerful symbol of the resistance of the masses, who – it is implied – will one day rise against the pervasive authority which oppresses them.
Keep It Real sold by Sotheby’s in 2021
Riot Cop
The police are a frequent target of Banksy’s artwork, as they represent the authority and power of the state over people. Moreover, although he is a global superstar, Banksy’s work is still technically illegal, and must still be created quickly and undercover whilst avoiding the forces of law and order. He’s often spoken out decrying the illegality of graffiti, and, apparently, his decision to use stencils was made after he was nearly caught by the police whilst graffitiing.
In Riot Cop, Banksy once again mocks the police by depicting an officer in full riot gear clutching a rifle, but with a huge smiley face slapped across his features, evoking the acid house culture of the ‘90s. The juxtaposition of the smiley face and the riot fear are a reminder to be wary of authority, and the print was sold by Sotheby’s in October 2019 for £331,584.
Riot Cop sold by Sotheby’s in 2019
Nola (Yellow Rain)
Banksy created this print after visiting New Orleans a few years on from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. In the image, a young, drenched girl stands underneath an umbrella and tentatively reaches out her hand, when in fact, the water is pouring down from inside her umbrella. The implication is clear: those things built to protect us often do the opposite, and it was a scathing response to the flaws in the flood defence system around New Orleans.
Banksy has recreated the print several times in different colours. This particular version was sold by Christie’s in a Banksy auction titled ‘I can’t believe you morons actually buy this sh*t’ which ran from March to April 2021, and it fetched £300,000.
Nola (Yellow Rain) sold by Christie’s in 2021
Choose Your Weapon
This print was sold by Sotheby’s in March 2021 for £240,000. It’s a comment on British gang culture and their use of dogs as weapons, and it pays homage to the American pop artist Keith Haring who became famous for the colourful, cartoonlike images he graffitied around New York in the ‘80s. For this print, Banksy repurposed Haring’s famous dog symbol and combined it with one of his own iconic images: the hooded youth, representative of the disaffected and the alienated of society.
Choose Your Weapon sold by Sotheby’s in 2021
