This picture by Banksy will go under the auction hammer on Thursday night. Image: Courtesy of Fair Warning
May 20, 2026, 5:48 p.mMay 20, 2026, 5:48 p.m
On March 13th of this year, the most famous street artist of all time was unmasked. The ominous and elusive artist Banksy became the mid-fifties Robin Gullingham from Bristol. After years of research journalists from the Reuters news agency published an article that leaves little doubt about the artist’s now revealed identity.
The Brit, who is now called David Jones after a name change, has not yet commented on the Reuters text. However, Banksy’s company “Pest Control”, which is responsible for authorizing his works, says that Banksy himself has “nothing to say” about the revelations.
Banksy auction expected to bring in up to $18 million
Many fans and sympathizers of the artist expressed their incomprehension that the Reuters journalists tried to drag the private person behind Banksy into the public eye. While the question of the purpose of this unmasking was heatedly debated on the Internet, a completely different question arose in the circles of well-heeled art collectors: What does this mean for the market value of Banksy’s works?
An answer to this question is expected on Thursday night at 3 a.m. Swiss time. Then the Banksy work “Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape” from 2012 will be auctioned in an exclusive live auction in New York. A sales amount of between 13 and 18 million dollars is expected.
How much influence does the unmasking have on the market value of the images?
In a recently published Article from the Wall Street Journal Art collector Peter Brant, who owns various works by famous artist Keith Haring, speculates that Banksy’s art is now even more attractive to collectors. Brant told the US business magazine: “It’s difficult to acquire work from someone who works so hard to remain unrecognized, because you’re essentially buying folklore. It’s important to know who they are and how they develop.”
The German investor magazine “Sachwert” On the other hand, the question arises as to whether the Banksy myth has now been damaged. His works have an aura of the incomprehensible, which makes every confirmed work a piece of controlled rarity. The upcoming auction on Thursday night will show whether Banksy has not only been exposed but also disenchanted for the world’s art elite. (July)