Banksy Prices Up or Down?

[Martin Whatson]

Banksy is a master of marketing.
Along wiith people like Jeff Koons and Hirst marketing and the way he gets attention and media coverage is one of the most interesting things about the phenomenon Banksy.

[Squarity]

Banksy isn't over hyped in my opinion, he has changed the art world forever and is at the front of an exciting art movement. He uses media, net and in todays fast moving world its interesting to see how this movement has developed and evolved in such a sort space of time.

[artstylee]

The fact that he won't reveal his true identity is getting old.

I think he should show himself to the world.
You'd think that he'd want to get his props for his work.

[Guest]

could totally ruin the myth, i love the unknown.

[Heavyconsumer]

Jan 17, 2010 3:11:59 GMT 1 artstylee said:

The fact that he won't reveal his true identity is getting old.

I think he should show himself to the world.
You'd think that he'd want to get his props for his work.

The people he wants to know his identity know it.

I guess it's a nice option to have - remaining anonymous - and to give it up would be irreversible once done, so I suppose it's not an easy decision to take. Perhaps he likes being able to walk among us wherever he likes, with the freedom of anonymity and the press not hounding him and reporting his every misdemeanour.

[curiousgeorge]

"I have no interest in ever coming out. I figure there are enough self-opinionated assholes trying to get their ugly little faces in front of you as it is. You ask a lot of kids today what they want to be when they grow up, and they say, "I want to be famous." You ask them for what reason and they don't know or care. I think Andy Warhol got it wrong: in the future, so many people are going to become famous that one day everybody will end up being anonymous for 15 minutes. I'm just trying to make the pictures look good; I'm not into trying to make myself look good. I'm not into fashion. The pictures generally look better than I do when we're out on the street together. Plus, I obviously have issues with the cops. And besides, it's a pretty safe bet that the reality of me would be a crushing disappointment to a couple of 15-year-old kids out there"

[beigephase]

Jan 16, 2010 11:42:07 GMT 1 Martin Whatson said:

Banksy is a master of marketing.
Along wiith people like Jeff Koons and Hirst marketing and the way he gets attention and media coverage is one of the most interesting things about the phenomenon Banksy.

I agree with Whatson here. It is funny to hear about people cuing for hours for a print release - just because they love the image so much? Pressing F5 for hours, just because they love the print so much. Come on! It`s for the money!
If you have 10K to spend, why would you buy a signed Banksy print, bcause you love the print so much?

I would buy a large original artwork (and spent the rest on good food or vacation).

But that`s the way of the art market. At some point, the more money involved, it just gets weird, IMO!

But it`s still great too see middle aged men freaking out, cause they got "the print" - like young girls almost die when they see their favourite boygroup!

I think this is true of many banksy print buyers - even if they dont tell you.

And yes, I don`t own any banksy prints - if I would I would try to sell them and to what I said before - original work, good food, vacation - well, but this would work with signed prints I think

[dannykj23]

As the prices sore, and his fame skyrockets - the question must be asked, has the worlds most famous "urban" artists become to expensive for the man in the street ?? A signed Banksy is no small investment these days...

Do you think he is just beginning ? The crash is coming ? The skies the limit ?

Will we see prints in 20 years time going for 10x what they are today ?

Lets explore !!

[Deleted]

How about you do some work and explore this site as you'll find all this discussed many, many times over the years.

[artylang]

at this moment in time. WAY over priced. Look at what people are paying for CYW. Oooof. I hope they love them, because in 5-10 years time, they will not be holding their value.

[naughtyshorty]

artylang, i would be very interested to know what you have to back that up...

[Daniel Silk]

I thinks its pretty unlikely I would buy any Banksy pieces in the future I think you can get just as good, if not better pieces from other up and coming artists in the scene for a fraction of the price.

[bazzj04]

although it may looks as good and could be better produced than banksy work, its still not a Banksy thats the differnce,

[dannykj23]

Sean - how about you take the question in the spirit if creating a dicussion on the 16 March and not react like a school teacher.

I am fully aware of the many threads of discussion , the point is that opinions change all the time, as do art market prices, trends, fashion etc - so current dialogue is crucial

In the immortal words of Banksy - p*ick !!

[dannykj23]

Who a your future picks Daniel ? Future starts of the game ?

[artylang]

Mar 16, 2011 13:10:44 GMT 1 naughtyshorty said:

artylang, i would be very interested to know what you have to back that up...

I love easy questions!

Without a doubt Banksy brought worldwide attention to a flourishing scene, but 3-8kusd for a large editioned screen print that is less than a year old! Non-sense.

One lesson I never forgot in my economics course was "opportunity cost". What else could you buy for that same money. Now since the way the original poster phrased the question leads one to think strictly in terms of investment, it is very hard to justify the prices for most of his editions. You cant turn around without tripping over another artist which you could buy for similar money that will have exponentially greater growth over the long term (strictly talking Banksy prints vs other artist originals. Banksy originals are another conversation). Im not going to start naming artists, but let's say that the only reason I have been able to afford an art collection is because of people over paying for signed Banksy prints I was fortunate enough to buy at source. While I love the works I have on my walls and get a ton of non-monetary fulfillment from them on a daily basis, there is no doubt in my mind that selling those prints to buy what I collect was a no brainer investment wise.

Time will tell of course, but I am very confident that investment wise I made very wise decisions. More so, the enjoyment I get living with the unique works or art I was able to buy, is, without trying to sound corny, f**king priceless.

would love to hear others chime in on this. Seems it could be an interesting debate. Furthermore, I think Banksy would approve of what Ive done. After all, his work turned me into a life long art appreciator and collector. It has allowed me to support other artists' careers and watch the flourish. Ill also add, these stupid POW lotteries have made it very difficult for me to add to my collection in the recent past...Bring back the old school bun fight where I had a chance.

[moleman]

What do you have in your collection then.
There are millions of artists and very small amount will ever be an investment.
If you are not buying to invest then buy what you like have fun, however I disagree with the majority of your post we can only guess what the word brings.

Banksy may become ill in a few year ( big ketamin user apparently) will his crew live on and continue his work. There are many questions all will have an answer one day.

[Gentle Mental]

Overpriced if you're looking to buy. Undervalued if you're looking to sell.

[swamped]

Only overpriced Banksy prints are the one I don't have in my collection, most of you would think the same I would assume...

[mzungu]

The problem with the Banksy pricing on prints is that they can be attained for a fraction of their value which is crazy; I dont know where else this occurs. This just distorts the pricing on them...

And for being able to buy other artists for cheaper then that is cool. Whether thats better value or not though is another matter. I mean Banksy is the original, the instigator and the one who has the mass appeal. And his latest relase, CYW is certainly one of the coolest things Ive ever seen. If his stuff was declining then the pricing would deter Id have though but it just gets better.

[pcant]

Mar 17, 2011 8:24:19 GMT 1 @mzungu said:

The problem with the Banksy pricing on prints is that they can be attained for a fraction of their value which is crazy; I dont know where else this occurs. This just distorts the pricing on them...

And for being able to buy other artists for cheaper then that is cool. Whether thats better value or not though is another matter. I mean Banksy is the original, the instigator and the one who has the mass appeal. And his latest relase, CYW is certainly one of the coolest things Ive ever seen. If his stuff was declining then the pricing would deter Id have though but it just gets better.

I think there's more to it than that. What with the movie and his recent meteoric rise in fame and the kerfuffle over whether he's really MBW and all that, it really doesn't matter what he releases, it will sell out in minutes and be posted on eBay for ten times the price. He could release a turd stencil, in 25 colourways, and they would sell like crazy.

CYW is a nice print, but I think (just my opinion, of course) that many of his earlier prints are better. The problem is the flippers see people selling the early prints for 10K and they want to realize all that valuation in one transaction.

And the most important part is: If YOU think CYW is worth 5K pounds, then it is, but that doesn't mean it's worth that for everyone. Many other street artists have elevated to prints and gallery works and there are many prints that have more value to other people than the Banksy does (early Faile prints, BAST, etc. come to mind).

[My Name is Frank]

Rude Copper is ten years old next year, take your measuring stick from there

[jp]

Mar 17, 2011 9:31:16 GMT 1 My Name is Frank said:

Rude Copper is ten years old next year, take your measuring stick from there

You cannot do that because every print is a different image and some are more popular than others. Not to mention edition size, physical size, and many other variables. All of these things affect price. The best you can do here is track a specific print over maybe a 10 or 20 year time to get an idea of its value as an investment.

I recommend reading the last chapter of "The $12 Million Stuffed Shark" titled "Contemporary Art as an Investment". It basically says that most art will not appreciate over the long term. Even worse, art markets are cyclical. Street art is still hot right now. In 10 years? Almost certainly not.

I believe that Banksy canvases, and especially unique canvases, stand the best chance of increasing significantly in value if he continues to grow as an artist. But it's still a gamble.

[alba]

The last 4 prints released by pow from what I call Banksys 'crayon period' have all been sold @ at least 1k below market value...So looking at the bigger picture, not ovr priced and some real bargains out there.

[pezlow]

This question seems to come around fairly often and none of the opinions that can expressed on it will be particularly novel.

There is no doubt that banksy print prices are high, but they are comparable with quite a few other contemporary artists editions prices - Hirst, Richter, Koons, Richard Prince. I'm not necessarily saying that Banksy is in the same league as those artists now but I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be at some point in the future. He also carefully controls his print releases so as, I am sure, to increase demand significantly. If you want to buy a Damien Hirst print from source there are about 100 different prints you can buy. If you want to buy a Banksy print there is one or two releases a year!

Is there other work out there at the same price as a Banksy print that is a better investment? Almost certainly yes. There are bound to be a whole host of artists who are currently selling originals at the £3k to £10k level who are destined to go on to bigger and better things than banksy, that is inevitable. Whether you can pick them or not is a totally different matter.

Ultimately it all boils down to what you like anyway. To buy art as an investment is a pretty foolhardy activity at the best of times. Yes you may make a killing but the chances are you won't.

[Deleted]

agree with Pez.

There are a whole host of emerging artists who will go on to bigger and better things - it would appear to me that British Contemporary artists is where it is at again or perhaps it never left. If you were to sell a Banksy, would you reinvest that money in to buying another Banksy or would I use it to purchase an OG from one of these emerging talents?

[danmuppet]

give us a couple of emerging artists to look into joe! cheers

[danmuppet]

woulnt call them emerging mate!

[Deleted]

Mar 17, 2011 11:54:30 GMT 1 danmuppet said:

give us a couple of emerging artists to look into joe! cheers

emerging talents for me would be the likes of:

Polly Morgan
Simon Patterson
Mat Collishaw
Rankin
Paul Fryer
Harland Miller
War Boutique
Rachel Howard
Ian Monroe

These are some of the artists that are getting me excited out there. Sure some are already known, but I am sure in years or decades to come, will be household names

[Brushstrokes 75]

The problem is not about Banksy himself. It's about the whole living contemporary art scene.

It has been said and noted many times that the Contemporary market is very high and volatile. Banksy is at is place in this configuration as Pez explained pretty well.

The whole contemporary scene is overpriced and as been deeply overpriced for the last 10 years. You can clearly see a big correction after 2008. People getting back to more secure Artists (impressionist & modern masters).

My opinion is that the contemporary market is still overpriced and it will always be overpriced because people like to discover the next big think, buy something current (rather than old) and play along the hype (not everyone of course).

It's impossible to say what the market will be for Banksy in another 10 years since prices are highly volatile.

You can probably due comparison to modern masters pricing which usually rise slowly but steadily and Banksy prices are quite high if you take comparison with those benchmarks.