Ten of the best by Banksy — from Queen Victoria to Kate Moss

Flower Thrower Triptych

In 2019, Banksy evolved one of his most recognisable motifs — an anti-war image of a protester throwing a bunch of flowers, Love is in the Air — into a triptych.

‘The edition of 300 sets of three screenprints on micron board were sold through Banksy’s short-lived homeware store, Gross Domestic Product,’ says Christie’s Prints and Multiples senior specialist James Baskerville. ‘It debuted to the public in a showroom in south London, and was offered through a website that the artist created in response to a trademark dispute with a greetings-card company that sought to use his artworks.’

Prices for the various artworks and objects started from just £10, and customers were invited to sign up for the chance to buy pieces by submitting a 50-word answer to the question, ‘Does art matter?’ The consignor of the Flower Thrower Triptych (Grey) in the current auction was one of the very lucky lottery winners.

Bunch of Flowers

In 2020, Banksy again revisited Flower Thrower, isolating the bouquet from its masked thrower to create a new work, Bunch of Flowers — which suggests that at the core of each rebellious act is a desire for peace and love.

‘A unique version of this motif, in spray paint on acetate, was sold at Christie’s in March 2021 for £250,000,’ says Baskerville.

In 2021, he reinterpreted the image as a screenprint with extensive hand-finishing in spray paint, which was issued in a varied series. The work coming to auction was gifted to the present owner by Banksy, who inscribed it with a heart on the front and signed it on the reverse with the words ‘THIS WAY UP X BANKSY’.

Pulp Fiction

In 2002, Banksy gave the gangster duo from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 classic Pulp Fiction, played by Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta, a humorous spin by replacing their handguns with bananas. ‘We are not sure if it’s actually legal to call this print “Pulp Fiction”, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough,’ he quipped.

‘The image was originally painted across a wall near Old Street tube station in London,’ says Baskerville. Five years later, Transport for London, which claimed that the graffiti made the area feel neglected — despite it having become a tourist attraction — painted over it.

In 2003, Banksy released the image as a screenprint in an edition of 600, of which 150 were signed. He also released an artist’s proof edition of eight in a stretched format.

NOLA

In 2008, three years after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on Louisiana, Banksy painted some 14 murals around New Orleans, taking aim at politicians’ inadequate efforts to protect the city, and then to repair the damage. Among them was NOLA, a picture that takes its title from the city’s sobriquet and depicts a girl being rained on from inside her umbrella.

‘While Banksy never comments on the meaning of his works, people tend to agree that this image is a nod to New Orleans’s failed flood defences,’ says Baskerville.

Months later, Banksy released the first NOLA print, which featured white rain, in an edition of 289 — a reference to the age of the city, founded in 1718. This was followed by an edition of 63 prints featuring grey rain; an edition of 32 with orange rain; and 31 with green rain. There were also a variety of transitional colourways within a total edition of 66 artist’s proofs. The example being offered at Christie’s, with green to blue rain, is one of the most desirable.

Girl with Balloon

Undoubtedly Banksy’s best-known image, Girl with Balloon was voted the UK’s favourite artwork in 2017, outshining pictures by Hockney, Constable and Turner.

The motif first appeared in 2002, as a mural sprayed on a shop in east London. Months later, it reappeared a few miles away on Waterloo Bridge, with the added words: ‘There is always hope’.

Since then, Banksy has repurposed Girl with Balloon many times: in 2014, he projected it onto monuments including Nelson’s Column and the Eiffel Tower to draw attention to the conflict in Syria; in 2017, prior to the UK general election, the balloon was given the colours of the Union Jack; and in 2018, a version famously shredded itself in front of a live audience via a mechanical device hidden inside its frame.

‘Banksy issued an edition of 600 prints of Girl with Balloon in 2004 that were unsigned, as well as a signed edition of 150,’ says Baskerville. ‘The signed version was originally priced at £150, while the unsigned edition was £75. In 2020, an artist’s proof of the print with a purple balloon realised £791,250.’

Kate Moss

In 2005, Banksy riffed on Andy Warhol’s famous series of images depicting Marilyn Monroe, which he began in 1962, following the star’s premature death.

Just as Warhol had appropriated a photograph of Monroe taken by Gene Korman, Banksy looked to a variety of images of the supermodel Kate Moss’s face — one of the most photographed women of her generation. And in a nod to the work of his predecessor, he swapped Moss’s hairdo for Monroe’s iconic curls.

‘This is the original colourway with yellow hair and ruby red lips on a light-blue background,’ says Baskerville. ‘It was released in an addition of 50 prints, each one signed by the artist, making it highly desirable among collectors. Shortly after, Banksy produced the image in six more colourways, each in an edition of just 20.’

In 2011, it was rumoured that Banksy had created a unique version of the artwork as a wedding gift for Moss, surprising her by having it installed in the bathroom of her hotel during her honeymoon.

Queen Vic

This irreverent image of Queen Victoria first appeared around 2001. One of the earliest versions of the work, which was a commentary on the monarch’s reported belief that women couldn’t be gay, appeared on the shutters of a shop that closed at 9pm.

‘This has given the stencil a kind of adults-only rating, as it never gets seen before the nine o’clock watershed,’ Banksy wrote in his 2002 book Existencilism. That same year, a framed canvas of the image was displayed at Banksy’s exhibition Santa’s Ghetto at the Dragon Bar in Shoreditch, east London.

In 2003, the image was released as a monochrome screenprint on a crimson background in an edition of 500. ‘The work was published by Pictures on Walls, a production and distribution company started by a collective of street artists who wanted to control their market,’ says Baskerville. ‘As the movement’s popularity went mainstream, members slowly started to disband, and in 2017 it was closed down.’

Have a Nice Day

One of Banksy’s early trademarks consisted of swapping the faces in portraits for the iconic yellow ‘smiley face’ created by graphic designer Harvey Ball in 1963. The logo was reportedly commissioned by an insurance company to boost staff morale, and Ball was paid just $45 to create what is now one of the most recognisable motifs in the world.

In 2003, Banksy created a painting showing a row of riot police marching towards the viewer alongside an armoured vehicle. Beneath them are the words ‘Have A Nice Day’. His twist: giving each officer a smiley face, thus undermining their authority.

‘The print was released in an initial edition of 500, of which 50 were signed,’ says the specialist. ‘Another 67 signed prints were subsequently released as the “Anarchist Book Fair Edition”, which uses a different font for the text.’

Soup Can

In another nod to Warhol, in 2005, Banksy created a work that traded the Pop pioneer’s 1962 image of a can of Campbell’s soup for its 21st-century counterpart: a can of soup from the British supermarket chain Tesco’s ‘Value’ range, recognisable by its plain, blue-and-white striped label.

While Warhol was fascinated by the imagery behind the rise of American consumer culture, Banksy takes aim at the British supermarket giant’s omnipresence — and its idea that ‘value’ goes hand-in-hand with simple design.

‘The work was initially released in the ‘Original’ colourway in an edition of 250 unsigned and 50 signed prints; this print is one of 50 from that run that were signed,’ says the specialist. ‘Another 27 different colourways were released not long after, as well as a version that depicted four stacked cans.’

Bomb Love

Childhood innocence meets mortal peril in Bomb Love, an image of a girl embracing a bomb as if it were a cuddly toy, and presumably in danger of being blown up at any moment. Does the work question the way in which war has been normalised, or suggest instead that love can conquer all?

‘This is one of the pictures that helped catapult Banksy to fame, and it first appeared as a stencil on a London wall in 2001,’ says Baskerville. ‘In 2002, Banksy made a version on canvas with a rosy-pink background, which sold at auction in 2021 for more than half a million pounds. In 2003, a pink screenprint of the image was released in an edition of 600, of which 150 were signed.’

Contemporary Edition: London is live for bidding online, until 31 March 2026, and on view until 31 March at Christie’s in London

Related artists: Banksy