banksy’s ‘I can’t believe you morons actually buy this sh*t’ auction breaks records

the banksy I can’t believe you morons actually buy this sh*t online christie’s sale has closed with a record-breaking sale where the iconic balloon girl — colour AP (purple) sold for £791,250 pounds ($1 million USD). this marks a world record auction for both a banksy print and for a print sold in an online auction.

images courtesy of christie’s

titled I can’t believe you morons actually buy this sh*t, the online sale conducted by christie’s london pays homage to the homonym piece where banksy satirizes a historical picture of the also record-breaking sale of van gogh’s sunflowers in 1987. the sale, led by a rare artist’s proof of girl with balloon, also featured other thirty coveted screen prints by the still-anonymous street artist.

‘editions of this iconic artwork (girl with balloon) are the most desirable banksy pieces at auction,’ says specialist james baskerville. ‘the image of the girl with the balloon is synonymous with banksy and there are variations in red, purple, blue, pink and gold. in september 2019, an artist’s proof with a gold balloon sold for £395,250, more than double its low estimate.’

buying a banksy can be tricky. while the artist prefers his pieces to remain in their original context, once he spray-paints a wall, the graffiti belongs to the owners of the building. therefore, owners are allowed to erase it, leave it, or sell it. when it comes to prints, both the signed and unsigned editions are legitimate, but they need to have a proof of authenticity from pest control, banksy’s handling service to prevent fakes.

‘it’s not possible to buy a banksy on the primary market these days,’ continues baskerville. ‘a decade ago, the artist was selling directly through certified dealers, at exhibitions, or through his former printers, pictures on walls. but today he only sells through pest control, and nothing is currently available.’

of course, all pieces sold by christie’s come with an official pest control certificate.