Sotheby’s & Christie’s Face off in Banksy Print Sales This Fall

Banksy made headlines last fall when the elusive artist’s self-shredding ‘Love is in the Bin’ artwork sold for $1.4 million USD at Sotheby’s London. Now, Sotheby’s alongside Christie’s are looking to garner a lot of attention for their respective online sales of Banksy prints next month.

On September 6, Sotheby’s will launch its two-week auction entitled “Banksy/Online” that will purvey some of the artist’s signature prints including ‘Girl With Balloon’ (valued up to $90,000 USD), ‘Welcome to Hell’ (up to $25,000 USD), ‘Pulp Fiction’ (up to $20,000 USD), among others. On the contrary, Christie’s whimsically named sale, “I can’t believe you morns actually buy this sh•t,” will comic on September 11. The sale will feature Banksy’s signed versions of ‘Choose your weapon’ (worth up to $56,000 USD) as well as the artist’s ‘Stop and Search’ piece (a high estimated price of $34,000 USD). Both auction houses are still finalizing the lots to be included in the sale.

“Banksy’s prints are an opportunity to become a part of something bigger,” said Kirsteen Davidson, a specialist in Sotheby’s prints department. “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.”

Stay tuned for details on both online Banksy sales. Elsewhere in art, Francis Bacon’s chilling portraits will be displayed at a major survey hosted by Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Banksy reveals in new video that Sotheby's auction shredding stunt didn't quite go as planned via @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/EYwjFNzwBc

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) October 19, 2018