Sotheby’s and Christie’s Will Hold Dueling Banksy Print Sales Online This Fall

Last fall, Banksy’s self-shredding painting Love Is in
the Bin garnered about as much media attention as a work
of contemporary art possibly can after it sold for $1.4 million
(and promptly
self-destructed) at Sotheby’s London. Now, Sotheby’s and
Christie’s are both hoping to ride that buzz to the bank with
dueling online sales of Banksy prints and multiples this fall.

The sales are unrelated, but both seek to capitalize on the
anonymous street artist’s mass popularity by offering prints at a
variety of price points.

Sotheby’s two-week sale, “Banksy/Online,” will go live
on September 6, bringing together some of the artist’s most
recognizable prints, including Girl With Balloon
(estimated at £60,000–80,000), Welcome to Hell
(£18,000–22,000), and Pulp Fiction
(£12,000–18,000).

The final lineup of the sale is still being worked out, but
Kirsteen Davidson, a specialist in Sotheby’s prints department,
notes that with some works produced in editions of up to 600,
“there’s something for everyone.”

She notes that the sale was already in the works
before Love Is in the Bin was sold last fall,
but the media frenzy certainly reaffirmed they were on the right
track. “Over the last couple of years, we have seen Banksy’s print
market go from strength to strength in its own right,” she says.
“It therefore seemed like a natural progression for us to harness
this strength, and worldwide interest in Banksy, and present a sale
solely of his works.”

Christie’s own sale, cheekily titled “I can’t believe you morons
actually buy this sh*t,” will go live Wednesday, September 11.
Named after a screenprint of the same title, which appropriates a
photo of Christie’s auction floor in 1987 at the
then-record-breaking sale of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers,
the sale includes another lineup of Banksy hits, including signed
versions of Choose your weapon (estimated to go between
£30,000–50,000), Stop and search (£20,000–30,000), and
CND Soldiers (£15,000–25,000).

The top lot is a rare artist’s proof of Girl With
Balloon (Gold), a variation on the famous painting that
became Love Is in the Bin. It carries an estimate
of £150,000–250,000. “It is not known exactly how many
artist’s proofs were made in the varying colorways, but this is the
first time that a color variant has been offered at auction,”
says James Baskerville, Christie’s head of prints and
multiples.

Christie’s sale is still taking consignments, so the lineup
isn’t set in stone. The low estimate for the entire sale currently
stands at $500,000.

The auction record for a multiple by Banksy is £344,750
($478,819), set for one of 25 editions of the classic Girl
With Balloon at Bonhams last year. The next highest price
was set in Hong Kong in April for Avon and Somerset
Constabulary, an acrylic on canvas in an edition of 10 that
fetched $382,185.

The auction houses are marketing the print sale as an
opportunity for Banksy’s many fans to own a piece of the myth.
“Banksy’s prints are an opportunity to become a part of something
bigger,” Davidson says. “Street art is in the public forum, but
prints provide a way for people who love his work to bring it home
with them. Some people will pay more for the signature, whereas
others just want to own a piece of Banksy’s work.”

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