BANKSY (born ca 1973-1975)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Current art
Chronology : 2006 2009 2020 to now
See also : Current art
Chronology : 2006 2009 2020 to now
2005 Crude Oils
1
Show me the Monet
2020 SOLD for £ 7.6M by Sotheby's
Banksy uses the recovery of images to castigate the consumerism which is destroying the environment. Most often, he overpaints chromos, as Duchamp had done for LHOOQ.
Made in 2005, Show me the Monet, oil on canvas in an artist's frame 143 x 143 cm, is an exception for that time : the work was entirely painted by the artist. The title criticizes the diversion of art by capitalism.
Symbols of modern vermin and vandalism have been added in front of Monet's Japanese bridge. In the foreground, a fluorescent orange cone signals that the garbage from modern life is polluting the most idyllic sites. Two shopping trollies are stranded amidst the water lilies.
This work was one of the centerpieces of an exhibition titled Crude Oils, another pun explicitly mixing capitalism and art. One of Banksy's most famous works, Warhol's Marilyn with the face of Kate Moss, was also unveiled at this exhibition.
Crude Oils was held in London in October 2005 in an abandoned shop. Admission is free, except that visitors must sign before entering their acceptance of the presence of the 164 rats that roam freely in the premises. These rodents had been hired by the artist to a theatrical prop company.
Show me the Monet was sold for £ 7.6M from a lower estimate of £ 3M on October 21, 2020 by Sotheby's, lot 106. The auction house stated that no rats are expected in their display. Reminding the 2018 Love is in the Bin happening, they predicted that the artist's frame was not rigged, but its thickness is not indicated in the catalog.
Made in 2005, Show me the Monet, oil on canvas in an artist's frame 143 x 143 cm, is an exception for that time : the work was entirely painted by the artist. The title criticizes the diversion of art by capitalism.
Symbols of modern vermin and vandalism have been added in front of Monet's Japanese bridge. In the foreground, a fluorescent orange cone signals that the garbage from modern life is polluting the most idyllic sites. Two shopping trollies are stranded amidst the water lilies.
This work was one of the centerpieces of an exhibition titled Crude Oils, another pun explicitly mixing capitalism and art. One of Banksy's most famous works, Warhol's Marilyn with the face of Kate Moss, was also unveiled at this exhibition.
Crude Oils was held in London in October 2005 in an abandoned shop. Admission is free, except that visitors must sign before entering their acceptance of the presence of the 164 rats that roam freely in the premises. These rodents had been hired by the artist to a theatrical prop company.
Show me the Monet was sold for £ 7.6M from a lower estimate of £ 3M on October 21, 2020 by Sotheby's, lot 106. The auction house stated that no rats are expected in their display. Reminding the 2018 Love is in the Bin happening, they predicted that the artist's frame was not rigged, but its thickness is not indicated in the catalog.
2
Sunflowers from Petrol Station
2021 SOLD for $ 14.6M by Christie's
Sunflowers from Petrol Station is another opus prepared by Banksy in 2005 for the Crude Oils exhibition by which the artist first departed from street art, without losing his irreverent humor.
Like the Show me the Monet, it is a re-mixing of a major artwork in an uncompromising recuperation for the protest against environmental damages and vandalism.
The former Van Gogh's flamboyant plant has been killed by modern life. Stems are bowing, flowers are dry and dead petals lie around the pot. Banksy's signature supersede Vincent's on the left side of the pot.
This oil on canvas 103 x 88 cm was sold for $ 14.6M from a lower estimate of $ 12M by Christie's on November 9, 2021, lot 17A. It has been sold to its fully identified first owner just after the Crude Oils exhibition and its artist's frame cannot have a hidden mechanism.
The real Van Gogh's Tournesols at the 1987 Christie's auction was from 2006 the subject of Banksy's Morons series turned against the art market.
Like the Show me the Monet, it is a re-mixing of a major artwork in an uncompromising recuperation for the protest against environmental damages and vandalism.
The former Van Gogh's flamboyant plant has been killed by modern life. Stems are bowing, flowers are dry and dead petals lie around the pot. Banksy's signature supersede Vincent's on the left side of the pot.
This oil on canvas 103 x 88 cm was sold for $ 14.6M from a lower estimate of $ 12M by Christie's on November 9, 2021, lot 17A. It has been sold to its fully identified first owner just after the Crude Oils exhibition and its artist's frame cannot have a hidden mechanism.
The real Van Gogh's Tournesols at the 1987 Christie's auction was from 2006 the subject of Banksy's Morons series turned against the art market.
2006 Love is in the Air
Intro
The street artist behind the Banksy pseudonym is not identified but that does not prevent him to promote worldwide his disobedient political message. In August 2005 a few new stenciled images appear on walls in the Palestinian territories doomed by war, guerrilla and violence for decades.
Love is in the air is one of them. It illustrated the cover page of Banksy's book Wall and Piece, dated 2005.
A contester is in the position of throwing a Molotov cocktail in a strong and determined gesture. What he holds is not a weapon but a bouquet of flowers, in the follow of the Hippie anti Vietnam war flower power movement of the 1960s.
A few replicas were made in oil and spray paint on canvas 90 x 90 cm, displaying the bright colors of the blooms.
Love is in the air is one of them. It illustrated the cover page of Banksy's book Wall and Piece, dated 2005.
A contester is in the position of throwing a Molotov cocktail in a strong and determined gesture. What he holds is not a weapon but a bouquet of flowers, in the follow of the Hippie anti Vietnam war flower power movement of the 1960s.
A few replicas were made in oil and spray paint on canvas 90 x 90 cm, displaying the bright colors of the blooms.
1
06/05/05
2021 SOLD for $ 13M by Sotheby's
An example is dated 06/05/05 which is tentatively read as May 5, 2006, not as June 5, 2005 that would precede the original on the Palestinian wall. Other identical piece are dated April and May 2006.
It was sold for $ 13M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2021, lot 104.
It was sold for $ 13M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2021, lot 104.
2
13/15
2021 SOLD for $ 8.1M by Sotheby's
The 13/15 dated May 2006 was sold for $ 8.1M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2021, lot 12.
The 5/15 of the 2006 Love is in the air, oil and spray on canvas 91 x 91 cm dated 24/4/2006, was sold for HK $ 51M by Sotheby's on April 27, 2022, lot 1126. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The 5/15 of the 2006 Love is in the air, oil and spray on canvas 91 x 91 cm dated 24/4/2006, was sold for HK $ 51M by Sotheby's on April 27, 2022, lot 1126. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
2006 Trolley Hunters
2021 SOLD for $ 6.7M by Sotheby's
The shopping cart is for Banksy the symbol of consumerism and a great target for his irony. Show me the Monet is an example made in 2005.
Trolley Hunters, oil and emulsion on canvas 137 x 214 cm painted in 2006, features a gang of prehistoric men preparing an attack against a herd of trolleys in a sun bathed desert plain.
The three men look at their future catch in the distance. One of them is standing, ready to throw his spear. The other two are crouching for the watch, one of them holding a machete. The peaceful family of grazing trolleys is made of a couple of adults, a child and a legless baby.
It was sold for $ 6.7M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2021, lot 11.
In the wake of the empty supermarket shelves of the covid panic, Alex Branczik of Sotheby's commented : "Despite all our evolutionary advances over the last 40,000 years, mankind is today reduced back down to his primal instincts: hunter-gatherers picking fights in petrol station forecourts and down supermarket aisles to panic buy fuel and toilet-paper that they don’t even need." The empty trolleys of Banksy's picture attest how low will be the reward for the Neanderthal hunter and by extension for the modern consumer.
Trolley Hunters, oil and emulsion on canvas 137 x 214 cm painted in 2006, features a gang of prehistoric men preparing an attack against a herd of trolleys in a sun bathed desert plain.
The three men look at their future catch in the distance. One of them is standing, ready to throw his spear. The other two are crouching for the watch, one of them holding a machete. The peaceful family of grazing trolleys is made of a couple of adults, a child and a legless baby.
It was sold for $ 6.7M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2021, lot 11.
In the wake of the empty supermarket shelves of the covid panic, Alex Branczik of Sotheby's commented : "Despite all our evolutionary advances over the last 40,000 years, mankind is today reduced back down to his primal instincts: hunter-gatherers picking fights in petrol station forecourts and down supermarket aisles to panic buy fuel and toilet-paper that they don’t even need." The empty trolleys of Banksy's picture attest how low will be the reward for the Neanderthal hunter and by extension for the modern consumer.
2009 Devolved Parliament
2019 SOLD for £ 9.9M by Sotheby's
Banksy started his underground career in Bristol. Although his identity has not been revealed, he is certainly from that city or its suburbs.
In 2009 the Bristol Museum devotes a major exhibition to Banksy, including more than 100 works of which 78 are new. Devolved Parliament, 276 x 446 cm including the frame, is one of his largest oils on canvas.
The work stages a plenary session of the House of Commons without an empty bench. All MPs are chimpanzees. Their attitude is peaceful and serious, as under the weight of a responsibility that overcomes them. Reality goes beyond fiction : the real representatives of the people have recently been found noisy, screaming, brandishing placards, slamming their desks or threatening the speaker.
A decade later comes the Brexit. Devolved Parliament now belongs to a private owner. This work and its title have never been so close to the real news. It was lent to the Bristol Museum for several months of exhibition, from March to September 2019. Originally this period was to cover the date of the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
Devolved Parliament was sold for £ 9.9M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M by Sotheby's on October 3, 2019, lot 28, four weeks before the new Brexit date.
Banksy, like George Orwell before him, has no confidence in politicians. His position vis-à-vis the Brexit is symbolized by a mural showing a worker on a ladder busy removing with a chisel a star of the European flag. This work made on the wall of a Dover building has been whitened, preventing Banksy from continuing his plan to show the collapse of the same flag after Brexit.
Banksy comments on the inexorable political chaos by stating "Laugh now, but one day no-one will be in charge", which paraphrases with an unprecedented pessimism one of the most recurrent formulas of his gangs of monkeys.
In 2009 the Bristol Museum devotes a major exhibition to Banksy, including more than 100 works of which 78 are new. Devolved Parliament, 276 x 446 cm including the frame, is one of his largest oils on canvas.
The work stages a plenary session of the House of Commons without an empty bench. All MPs are chimpanzees. Their attitude is peaceful and serious, as under the weight of a responsibility that overcomes them. Reality goes beyond fiction : the real representatives of the people have recently been found noisy, screaming, brandishing placards, slamming their desks or threatening the speaker.
A decade later comes the Brexit. Devolved Parliament now belongs to a private owner. This work and its title have never been so close to the real news. It was lent to the Bristol Museum for several months of exhibition, from March to September 2019. Originally this period was to cover the date of the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
Devolved Parliament was sold for £ 9.9M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M by Sotheby's on October 3, 2019, lot 28, four weeks before the new Brexit date.
Banksy, like George Orwell before him, has no confidence in politicians. His position vis-à-vis the Brexit is symbolized by a mural showing a worker on a ladder busy removing with a chisel a star of the European flag. This work made on the wall of a Dover building has been whitened, preventing Banksy from continuing his plan to show the collapse of the same flag after Brexit.
Banksy comments on the inexorable political chaos by stating "Laugh now, but one day no-one will be in charge", which paraphrases with an unprecedented pessimism one of the most recurrent formulas of his gangs of monkeys.
2011 Forgive us our Trespassing
2020 SOLD for HK$ 64M by Sotheby's
A street artist could indeed be blamed for tagging without a previous authorization. In a derision against his own practice, Banksy tagged in 2010 a wall in Salt Lake City with the image of a kneeling boy praying beside his paint pot and brush below the dripping wet large inscription FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSING. Posters were soon printed with the boy below a golden halo of dripping paint.
In 2011 in Los Angeles, Banksy prepares a collective work encouraging children to art creation. The monumental frame 655 x 420 cm is the figure of a medieval stained glass window in the dark as seen from inside a church. About 100 students fill the slits in bright colors with figures and graffiti.
In the forefront the kneeling boy is featured life size in a hooded coat, again with his painting equipment. The title is retained without inscription for that new artwork.
This LA acrylic, spray paint and marker pens on wooden panel in four parts was sold for HK $ 64M from a lower estimate of HK $ 16M by Sotheby's on October 6, 2020, lot 1133.
In 2011 in Los Angeles, Banksy prepares a collective work encouraging children to art creation. The monumental frame 655 x 420 cm is the figure of a medieval stained glass window in the dark as seen from inside a church. About 100 students fill the slits in bright colors with figures and graffiti.
In the forefront the kneeling boy is featured life size in a hooded coat, again with his painting equipment. The title is retained without inscription for that new artwork.
This LA acrylic, spray paint and marker pens on wooden panel in four parts was sold for HK $ 64M from a lower estimate of HK $ 16M by Sotheby's on October 6, 2020, lot 1133.
2018 Love is in the Bin
2021 SOLD for £ 18.6M by Sotheby's
Girl with Balloon, stencil painted by Banksy, first appeared in 2002 on a wall in London. Under a strong wind which messes her hair and inflates her skirt, the child has just let go the string of a heart-shaped balloon. A second painting also in London brings the artist's message, "There is always hope", which in some way revisits the traditional theme of the bottle thrown into the sea.
The image is simple and without social aggression and became immediately popular. Banksy often reused it for happenings or other actions to promote his political opinions.
A spray paint and acrylic on canvas 101 x 78 cm was listed by Sotheby's in London in the contemporary art evening sale of October 5, 2018, lot 67. While Oliver Barker's hammer falls for £ 1.04M including premium, the artwork is shredded in the auction room by a mechanism hidden in the 18 cm thick artist's frame.
Banksy authenticated this remote-controlled destruction with a convincing evidence including short films displaying the preparation of the happening. He also stated that the stop of the shredding halfway of the composition was a malfunction. The modified work has been certified by Pest Control with a new title, Love is in the Bin.
The successful bidder appreciated the specific place of her acquisition in the history of art dissidence, beside famous destructive acts by DADA, Rauschenberg, Tinguely or Ai Weiwei. A collusion between Banksy and Sotheby's for this unprecedented event is not credible. It had nevertheless been the last lot of the evening and was exhibited in full visibility during the auction.
Love is in the Bin was sold for £ 18.6M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Sotheby's on October 14, 2021, lot 7. The frame is still integral with its shredding mechanism which has been decommissioned. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The image is simple and without social aggression and became immediately popular. Banksy often reused it for happenings or other actions to promote his political opinions.
A spray paint and acrylic on canvas 101 x 78 cm was listed by Sotheby's in London in the contemporary art evening sale of October 5, 2018, lot 67. While Oliver Barker's hammer falls for £ 1.04M including premium, the artwork is shredded in the auction room by a mechanism hidden in the 18 cm thick artist's frame.
Banksy authenticated this remote-controlled destruction with a convincing evidence including short films displaying the preparation of the happening. He also stated that the stop of the shredding halfway of the composition was a malfunction. The modified work has been certified by Pest Control with a new title, Love is in the Bin.
The successful bidder appreciated the specific place of her acquisition in the history of art dissidence, beside famous destructive acts by DADA, Rauschenberg, Tinguely or Ai Weiwei. A collusion between Banksy and Sotheby's for this unprecedented event is not credible. It had nevertheless been the last lot of the evening and was exhibited in full visibility during the auction.
Love is in the Bin was sold for £ 18.6M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Sotheby's on October 14, 2021, lot 7. The frame is still integral with its shredding mechanism which has been decommissioned. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
2018 Banksquiat
2023 SOLD for $ 9.7M by Phillips
Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump is a large size masterpiece painted in 1982 by Basquiat, 240 x 420 cm. Johnny pump is a New York slang word designating an illegal fire hydrant that enables kids to play in water in the street. Jean-Michel was always keen to use terms that puzzle the WASP.
It features a black skeleton individual with hands raised in celebration in Jean-Michel's signature style, followed by a furious dog in the same pictorial style. They are surrounded by flamboyant colors suggesting a hot summer.
This painting was privately acquired in 2020 by Ken Griffin for a price reported as over $ 100M. Griffin put in on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago.
These raised hands of a Negro individual inspired Banksy who changed it into a hands up gesture. In 2017 in a clandestine visit, he stenciled on a wall of a Basquiat exhibition in the Barbican Centre in London a copy of the boy and dog. The man is flanked by two stenciled cops in stop and search in Banksy's signature style. Although forbidden by their rules, that graffiti was immediately qualified as a piece of art by the Barbican.
Banksy made a copy in 2018 on a gray background. This acrylic and wax marker on wood in three panels 244 x 385 cm overall is titled Banksquiat and subtitled Boy and Dog in Stop and Search. It was sold for $ 9.7M by Phillips on May 17, 2023, lot 13.
It features a black skeleton individual with hands raised in celebration in Jean-Michel's signature style, followed by a furious dog in the same pictorial style. They are surrounded by flamboyant colors suggesting a hot summer.
This painting was privately acquired in 2020 by Ken Griffin for a price reported as over $ 100M. Griffin put in on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago.
These raised hands of a Negro individual inspired Banksy who changed it into a hands up gesture. In 2017 in a clandestine visit, he stenciled on a wall of a Basquiat exhibition in the Barbican Centre in London a copy of the boy and dog. The man is flanked by two stenciled cops in stop and search in Banksy's signature style. Although forbidden by their rules, that graffiti was immediately qualified as a piece of art by the Barbican.
Banksy made a copy in 2018 on a gray background. This acrylic and wax marker on wood in three panels 244 x 385 cm overall is titled Banksquiat and subtitled Boy and Dog in Stop and Search. It was sold for $ 9.7M by Phillips on May 17, 2023, lot 13.
2020 Game Changer
2021 SOLD for £ 16.8M by Christie's
In the spring of 2020, in each country, everyone discovers the existence of superheroes, people like you and me, very keen of doing their daily work with perseverance and abnegation : the frontline health staff, which was until then mostly distinguished by the press for social and wage demands.
On May 6, 2020, Banksy hangs at the University Hospital Southampton an oil on canvas 91 x 91 cm, clearly visible to staff and patients. This work incorporates the artist's social humor, but without his usual irreverence. It is the message of hope that people increasingly need, one year after the global expansion of the pandemic.
The work is named Game Changer. This title is descriptive. It features a kneeling kid brandishing his new toy, a Superman-inspired masked nurse flying to our rescue. The outdated toys, Batman and Spiderman, are in the bin. The visual effect is not forgotten. In this freehand painting in black line, the only color is the Red Cross clearly visible on the nurse's uniform.
Banksy promised that this work would be sold to benefit the National Health Service. He keeps his word. Game Changer was sold for £ 16.8M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M by Christie's on March 23, 2021, lot 6. At Southampton Hospital, hope will not be lost : a replica has been installed in place of the original.
The lot was offered with a saleroom notice :
"The artist wishes to thank the British Red Cross for authorising the use of the Red Cross emblem in this work. The red cross symbol is restricted by law in order to preserve its protective function during armed conflicts."
On May 6, 2020, Banksy hangs at the University Hospital Southampton an oil on canvas 91 x 91 cm, clearly visible to staff and patients. This work incorporates the artist's social humor, but without his usual irreverence. It is the message of hope that people increasingly need, one year after the global expansion of the pandemic.
The work is named Game Changer. This title is descriptive. It features a kneeling kid brandishing his new toy, a Superman-inspired masked nurse flying to our rescue. The outdated toys, Batman and Spiderman, are in the bin. The visual effect is not forgotten. In this freehand painting in black line, the only color is the Red Cross clearly visible on the nurse's uniform.
Banksy promised that this work would be sold to benefit the National Health Service. He keeps his word. Game Changer was sold for £ 16.8M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M by Christie's on March 23, 2021, lot 6. At Southampton Hospital, hope will not be lost : a replica has been installed in place of the original.
The lot was offered with a saleroom notice :
"The artist wishes to thank the British Red Cross for authorising the use of the Red Cross emblem in this work. The red cross symbol is restricted by law in order to preserve its protective function during armed conflicts."
