Buying a Banksy
A liquid, well documented market, and one full of people happy to sell you the wrong example at the right-sounding price.
We sell works and we act for buyers. Those are different jobs
A gallery with a print on its wall has an interest in you buying that print. That is not dishonest — it is what a gallery is — but it is a sale, and a sale is not advice.
We are both. We hold works of our own, and they are in our catalogue, offered openly. We are also engaged by buyers to go and find things we do not own. The two are different transactions, and the commitment we make is simply this: you will always be told which one is on the table before you spend anything.
When we are acting for you, the answer is sometimes “that example is overpriced, wait for a better one” — including when the example is ours. An advisor who can never say that is not worth engaging, and an advisor who claims they have no interests at all is describing a business that does not exist.
The eight-point check before any money moves
Run this on any print, from any seller — including one we introduce you to, and including one of ours.
01The certificate exists and matches
A Pest Control certificate, and one that corresponds to this sheet — the right title, the right edition number. A certificate for a different example of the same image is worth nothing to you.
02Nobody else's certificate counts
Gallery certificates, dealer letters, appraisals and certificates of authenticity from any other party are not authentication. Since 2008 there has been exactly one authority.
03Edition size, checked independently
Confirm the signed and unsigned edition figures for that image from a source that is not the seller. Scarcity is the main price driver, so it is the main place to be misled.
04Condition, out of the frame
Light-fading, toning, foxing, creasing, and above all trimming. Ask for the sheet to be unframed and photographed under raking light. A seller who refuses has told you something.
05Sheet dimensions measured
Compare against the published size for that edition. A sheet that measures short has been trimmed, and a trimmed sheet is permanently worth substantially less.
06Provenance in writing
Where has it been since publication? Gaps are not fatal, but they should be acknowledged rather than smoothed over.
07Comparable evidence for the price
What have similar examples — same image, same signature status, same condition grade — actually achieved in the last twelve months? Not the last five years.
08Total cost, not headline price
Buyer's premium, VAT where applicable, shipping, insurance and any import duty. At auction the premium alone can add a quarter to the hammer price.
The most common expensive mistake
Buying the image rather than the example. Two prints of the same picture can differ by a factor of five on edition, signature and condition. Decide which example you are buying before you fall for which picture it is. The edition reference sets out what was published and in what numbers.
Tell us what you want, and we go and find it
Most of the good examples never reach a public listing. They move between collectors quietly, and being in that conversation is most of the job.
01The brief
Image, signature status, colourway, condition floor, and a budget ceiling you are comfortable with.
02The search
We approach known holders, dealers and upcoming consignments — including works that have not reached the market.
03The report
Each candidate with its certificate status, condition notes, provenance and the comparable evidence for the asking price.
04The negotiation
We negotiate on your side, arrange insured transport, and check the work again on arrival.
There is no charge to register a brief and no obligation. If we cannot find something that genuinely fits, we will say so rather than talk you into a near-miss.
Whitebank Fine Art is an art advisory and gallery, not an auction house, and is not affiliated with Banksy, Pest Control, Pictures on Walls or any auction house. Only Pest Control can authenticate a work by Banksy. Nothing here is investment advice.