Banksy, Love is in the Air, 2003. Screenprint in colors on wove paper, unsigned. 19-3/4 x 27-5/8 in. Ed. 149/500, at Heritage Auctions with a high estimate of $35,000. Image by Heritage Auctions, HA.com

Banksy works are as popular as they are because the artist has always understood the machinery of attention better than most of his peers. The record for any Banksy still belongs to Love is in the Bin, which reached £18.58 million, roughly $25.4 million, at Sotheby’s in October 2021 after completing its now-mythologized partial self-destruction, eclipsing the £17 million paid months earlier for Game Changer, his NHS tribute. These moments reinforced the core proposition of the Banksy market: his work arrives preloaded with narrative, controversy and mass recognition, leading to widespread popularity and shielding it from some of the broader art market’s ups and downs.

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Prints have benefited disproportionately from that dynamic. What began........

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