Online bidder helps sets Banksy print record at charity auction

The auction was organised jointly by street art collective Vanguard and East Bristol Auctions and was held in aid of charities Temwa and Aid Box Community.

Grant Marshall (aka Daddy G) donated two Banksy prints for the auction that took place in Bristol, the native city of world’s most famous graffiti artist. Both came with certificate of authenticity issued by Banksy’s Pest Control Office.

Bomb Middle England, a 3ft x 13.5in (99 x 35cm) screenprint, was published by Pictures on Walls, London in 2003. As well as being signed in pencil to the lower right, this copy was also signed ‘B’ with an ‘X’ to the lower left which differentiated it from the general run of 500 prints in the edition.

Estimated at £15,000-25,000, it drew a strong competition and sold to the online bidder at £70,000. The previous highest price for a copy at auction was £36,000.

Banksy had given this copy to Marshall’s family early on in his career and the founding member of Massive Attack (a band itself formed in Bristol in 1988) decided to sell it to support the charities which help vulnerable people in Bristol and Malawi.

Marshall said: “When we heard about the government funding Temwa lost earlier this year with the UK aid cuts, and the importance of the work Temwa does in Malawi, we felt compelled to help. Selling the Banksy prints via the Vanguard charity auction seemed an easy way to help raise some urgent funds needed.”

‘I Fought the Law’ a Banksy screenprint from 2004 – £71,000 at the Vanguard / East Bristol Auctions charity sale.

The other Banksy print consigned by Marshall was a copy of the 2004 screenprint I Fought the Law. From an edition of 500 signed prints, again published by Pictures on Walls in London, it was estimated at £30,000-40,000. It drew high demand here once more and was knocked down at £71,000, another high price for this particular edition.

Vanguard project director Mary McCarthy said: “The fact that the record-breaking sale of these Banksy prints happened in a club in Bristol and not at Christie’s in London or Sotheby’s in New York demonstrates the incredible energy of Bristol’s street art scene. It is truly an amazing achievement for Bristol to compete at this level.”

If you’d like to learn more about Banksy prints, read our guide here.

View upcoming auctions at East Bristol Auctions.