Christie’s ‘Laugh now but one day we’ll be in charge: Banksy and 21st Century Editions’ online sale is now live for bidding, remaining open until 1 pm on 21 September 2022. This auction format, the title of which references one of Banksy’s most well-known screenprints, situates Banksy within the wider context of artists producing editions in the 21st century.
Banksy’s Flower Thrower Triptych (Grey) (2019, estimated £150,000-250,000), created as part of the artist’s Gross Domestic Product project, which was unveiled in a former carpet shop in London’s Croydon area, will lead the online-only auction. Banksy’s iconic motif of a masked figure, with a petrol bomb replaced by a bunch of flowers, is an image that advocates for peace.
The artist’s earlier screenprint of this image Love is in the Air (2003, estimated £50,000-70,000) has been reinterpreted in Flower Thrower Triptych to form a larger artwork split over three panels.
Stik’s Onbu (Piggyback) (2013) will be offered as a full set of four prints, the first time that the complete series of four colours have been presented together at auction. Estimated at £70,000-100,000, Onbu (Piggyback) was produced in collaboration with the Adachi Institute in Tokyo.
A separate single colorway from the same series, Onbu (Piggyback) (Pink) (2013, estimate: £12,000-18,000), has been donated by the artist to raise funds for The Bhopal Medical Appeal. The charity cares for survivors of the world’s worst industrial disaster, the Bhopal gas tragedy.
Tracey Emin’s I can’t tell anyone I loved you (2020, estimate: £3,000-5,000, illustrated above, right) has been donated by the artist to Icarus Theatre Collective in support of their new production of ‘The Lesson’, written by Eugène Ionesco. This production represents Icarus’ commitment to accessibility by incorporating an innovative creative captioning concept that improves accessibility for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences.
Additional highlights include Damien Hirst’s visual tribute to cherry blossom, The Virtues (H9) (2021, estimate: £100,000-150,000), Harland Miller’s Armageddon (2017, estimate; £8,000-12,000), Ayako Rokkaku’s Untitled (2021, estimate: £10,000-15,000, illustrated above, center), and Tunji Adeniyi Jones’ Pattern Makers (2020, estimate: £2,000-3,000, illustrated above, left).
