This picture by Banksy went under the auction hammer on Thursday night. Image: Courtesy of Fair Warning
May 21, 2026, 08:59May 21, 2026, 08:59
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 is still making millions
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?
The recent sale of a real Banksy in New York provided an answer to this question. Last night, the painting “Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape” from 2012 was sold in an exclusive auction. The starting bid was around $13 million. The fact that the picture now changed hands for $17,940,000 is an indication that the exposure was unable to reduce the market value of Banksy’s works.
Speculation about the influence of the unmasking on the market value before the auction
In one published before the auction Article from the Wall Street Journal Art collector Peter Brant, who owns various works by famous artist Keith Haring, speculated that Banksy’s art was 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 was raised as to whether the Banksy myth was now damaged. His works have an aura of the incomprehensible, which makes every confirmed work a piece of controlled rarity. The fact that Banksy’s work sold for just under the expected maximum of $18 million shows that for the world’s art elite, Banksy was exposed, but not disenchanted. (July)