You don’t know his name. Or do you?

Spoiler. You can find it easily enough, we won’t give you the likeliest option here.

So if you don’t want to know, you’re safe for now.

There's no doubting his influence. A rash of new works appearing over nine days in September 2024 was headline news.

Some of them were immediately copied in-situ and the originals removed for safekeeping. 

Because Banksy is one of the most consequential - and valuable - British artists of the 21st century. 

1. You don’t have permission to use this image.

Grim Reaper by Banksy has a tag to identify it. 

Banksy has an extremely recognisable style.

And one that is relatively easy to copy.

Here’s what his website says: “Are you a company looking to licence Banksy art for commercial use? Then you’ve come to the right place – you can’t.

“Only Pest Control Office have permission to use or license my artwork. If someone else has granted you permission, you don’t have permission. I wrote ‘copyright is for losers’ in my (copyrighted) book and still encourage anybody to take and amend my art for their own personal amusement, but not for profit or making it look like I've endorsed something when I haven’t. Thanks.”

So, if you see a Banksy advertising something it’s probably a lookalike, and if you want to remix his art yourself, for your own amusement then please do.

2. People might be gaming Google to hide his identity

I think I know who Banksy is.

But I’m not sure.

And it’s likely that fans, friends or representatives of Banksy are helping to muddy the waters.

It’s pretty well known that Banksy has a long and deep association with the fine city of Bristol (our home).

Robert Del Naja or Massive Attack is a very good graffiti artist from Bristol (he did the artwork for this cover), but he's not Banksy. Or is he? 

But, he’s not one of Massive Attack. But the fact that you get told that he is on a Wikipedia page and in search results is probably the result of a concerted campaign to maintain at least some mystery around the Banksy name.

We think it’s better that way.

3. Who owns this wall?

Banksy’s works are very often put up in secret in public places.

One of the reasons he’s said he hides his identity is because what he does is technically a crime.

A crime most people are delighted to be a victim of. Because a Banksy on your wall can be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Law firm Wedlake Bell recounted the case of the piece Art Buff.

That appeared in Folkestone, and when the tenant of the building on which it appeared cut it out and sold it, the landlord of the building sued them.

A court found that the landlord owned the work, but it wasn’t a clear-cut decision, and Banksy works are likely to cause disputes for decades to come.

Swinger, in New Orleans, by Banksy has been painted over. The artist often works in conflict zones and at the sites of disasters. Image by Infrogmation of New Orleans, commons wikimedia. 

4. Stars, particularly musicians, love Banksy

Banksys that are sold are quite often sold to musicians and pop culture stars.

Among the Banksy owners we know of are:

Former Take That star Robbie Williams, who has owned at least three.

Designer Sir Paul Smith owns at least one.

Conceptual artist Damien Hirst (who has worked with Banksy) owns several.

Kate Moss, a pal of the artist, has a mural in her bathroom. It was a wedding present from Banksy.

Stormzy wore a Banksy when he took to the stage at Glastonbury in 2019 in a Union Flag-painted stab vest.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bought several Banksys, reportedly spending £1 million in one spree.

George Michal owned two, and commissioned a mural for his own home.

Elton John’s recent house sale included a Banksy, which sold for over its estimate to make $1.9 million.

Game Changer, Banksy's tribute to NHS staff's work to fight COVID, was sold for £16.8 million. 

5. The most valuable Banksy destroyed itself

“Subversive” is the adjective most often attached to Banksy.

And shredding your own work is probably subversive.

Unfortunately it failed to destroy its value, if that was the intention.

Such is the power of markets.

Banksy’s painting Girl with Balloon - a theme he has used a number of times - was auctioned at Sothebys in 2018.

It made £1.1 million. And when the gavel went down it started to eat itself, as the paper passed through a shredder hidden in the bottom of the frame.

It stopped half way.

And, it didn’t do the picture much harm, as it sold in 2021 for £18 million.

6. Banksy works can be fragile

Banky’s catalogue includes a whole category for works that have been destroyed, defaced, or removed from their intended location.

Sometimes this is the result of official intransigence, as when Westminster City Council insisted that graffiti is graffiti is graffiti and painted over the One Nation Under CCTV mural in 2009.

Some Banksy works have been accidentally cleaned or deliberately attacked - everyone’s a critic - in their public locations.

Some are remixed by other artists. A facemask was added to Girl with a Pierced Eardrum in Bristol during the COVID 19 Pandemic.

And then there’s…

7. King Robbo Vs Banksy

Some works have been painted over with references to “Robbo” or “King Robbo”.

He’s another graffiti artist who had a long-running feud with Banksy, that tragically wasn’t resolved before Robbo died in 2014 after a 2011 fall left him in a coma.

Robbo was a well-known London graffiti artist, credited with creating London’s longest-surviving graffiti work in Camden.

The pair had a personal falling out at their first meeting and subsequently defaced each other’s work.

King Robbo and Banksy both painted this iconic site in Camden. Image by Matt Brown, King Robbo, Banksy. Wikimedia commons. 

Most recently, a Banksy mural on a disused prison in Reading was signed by “Team Robbo” taggers.

Robbo fell outside his flat in 2011 and died in 2014. Banksy had painted a tribute to him at the site of the Camden mural after the fall, but Robbo died without regaining consciousness.

Art for sale

You can see some of our collection of artist-related work here.

And if you want to get more articles like this or you’d like to know when we have new items in stock then please sign up here for our newsletter. We’ll find out what you’re interested in and won’t bombard you with irrelevant messages. And you’ll never miss out again.