Stop and Search
Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz being searched by a police officer. A 2007 release, signed only in a run of five hundred, and an image whose politics have aged into it rather than out of it.
Pictures on Walls · 2007
Edition summary
| Year | 2007 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Pictures on Walls |
| Medium | Screenprint on paper |
| Signed edition | Reported as 500 |
| Unsigned edition | None recorded |
| Variants | Proof designations recorded separately |
| Authentication | Buyers and salerooms expect a Pest Control certificate |
Another large signed run
Like Sale Ends, this is a signed edition of five hundred rather than the 150 that is usual for the earlier releases, and the same consequences follow.
Supply is regular, comparable results are plentiful, and the price is steadier and more evidence-led than on the scarce images. For an owner this is largely good news: a figure can be argued rather than estimated, and the risk of an unsold lot is lower than on an image that depends on finding the one committed buyer.
A political image that has not dated
The subject is a search under counter-terrorism powers, rendered through a children's film, and it was pointed when released in 2007.
Images tied to a specific moment often lose force as the moment passes. This one has not, and its continued relevance is part of why demand has held. That is a genuine factor in a valuation and worth naming, because the opposite is true of several works in the wider street-art market where the reference has gone stale.
Condition and presentation
A busy image with figures and detail across most of the sheet, which forgives light surface marks better than the flat prints do.
What it does not forgive is the usual list: trimmed margins, fading, and tape or hinge staining that has migrated to the front. Photograph the full sheet with all four margins, the pencil line, and the reverse.
Before you buy or sell one
- A 500 signed run means steady supply and evidence-led pricing — argue the figure, do not estimate it.
- Condition is priced hard where buyers have alternatives.
- Read the pencil line for proof designations before assuming a standard impression.
- Confirm the Pest Control certificate corresponds to this edition number specifically.
Keep reading
- Girl with Balloon
- Love Is In The Air
- Di-Faced Tenner
- Trolleys (Black and White)
- Trolleys (Colour)
- Rude Copper
- Laugh Now
- Bomb Hugger
- Happy Choppers
- Napalm
- Toxic Mary
- Flying Copper
- Pulp Fiction
- Barcode
- Gangsta Rat
- Jack and Jill
- Kate Moss
- Soup Can
- Grin Reaper
- Morons
- Applause
- Sale Ends
- Very Little Helps
- Nola
- Choose Your Weapon
- What the reported figures actually show
- Pest Control authentication explained
No work described here is offered for sale. 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 or legal advice.
Own one? Send photographs of the full sheet and the reverse and we will place yours against comparable results.