Banksy’s identity may be a mystery, but it’s no secret that the artist’s secondary market is exploding. The legendary street artist has cemented his fame both through his irreverent antics—and his concerted efforts to control the way his art is bought and sold.

Banksy has kept the art world on its toes from the infamous shredding of his work at Sotheby’s in 2018 to his failed attempt to trademark graffiti images. His market has done the same. On the occasion of Artnet Auctions’ current Summer Editions sale, featuring two iconic prints by the graffiti legend, we are looking back at what makes Banksy’s auction market stand out among the rest.

The England-based street artist released his first works around 2002 to several commercial print galleries, including TomTom Gallery and Pictures on Walls. At that time, his prints were selling for close to $300 on the primary market. According to Artnet’s Price Database, the first time one of these prints hit the secondary market in 2004, it achieved $​​1,343. Nearly two decades later, Banksy has sold a total of $125,002,316 in 2021 alone, $48 million of which were generated solely from prints and multiples. In fact, his top-selling print this year, entitled Girl With Balloon, sold for over $2.8 million in June. 

Banksy, “Queen Vic” (2003). Courtesy of Artnet Auctions.

Banksy’s prints market is a booming subset of his gargantuan market. The average price for a print by Banksy rose a massive 375% between 2011 and 2021, signaling a rapidly accelerating demand. And with consistently high numbers of Price Database searches for Banksy each month, the artist’s market shows no signs of slowing down. That’s why in 2008, Banksy launched Pest Control, a service to authenticate his artworks and prevent fakes from circulating. All Banksy artworks created after 2009 are sold with a Pest Control certificate, and works created beforehand, such as Have a Nice Day (2003) and Queen Vic (2003) included in Artnet’s Summer Editions sale, can be retroactively authenticated and sold with a COA.

The steady demand and consistently rising prices for prints by Banksy is also caused by a limited supply. And while opportunities to collect Banksy’s work are rare, Artnet Auctions is proud to offer a number of his prints in their upcoming Street Level sale. Banksy has not created new prints since he made Sale Ends (V.2) in 2017, and prior to that, his latest release was the Choose Your Weapon series in 2010. With a short supply of authenticated editions by the artist, it’s no wonder that his market continues to expand. 

To learn more about Banksy’s market boom, contact us to order your own custom Analytics Report. You’ll gain access to valuable data including global auction sales volume, adjusted average sale prices, sell-through rate, and more—contact us to begin customizing for the insight you need.