The most expensive Banksy ever sold is Love Is in the Bin, which fetched £18.6 million (about $25.4 million) at Sotheby’s in London on 14 October 2021. It is the same canvas that shredded itself moments after selling as Girl with Balloon in 2018. The newest entry on this list sold in May 2026 for $17.94 million.
We ranked ten Banksy works by the price paid at auction, with buyer’s premium, as of October 2026. Dollar figures for sterling sales are our conversions at the time of sale, so they are approximate.
| Rank | Item | Price (USD) | Date | Sold at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Love Is in the Bin | £18.6M (about $25.4M) | 14 Oct 2021 | Sotheby’s London |
| 2 | Southampton hospital nurse-hero painting (2020) | £16.8M (about $23.2M) | 23 Mar 2021 | Christie’s London |
| 3 | Girl and Balloon, found-wood version (2012) | $17.94M | 20 May 2026 | Fair Warning at Tiffany & Co., New York |
| 4 | Sunflowers from Petrol Station | $14.56M (about £10.7M) | 9 Nov 2021 | Christie’s New York |
| 5 | The Flower Thrower (canvas, 2005) | $12.9M (about £9.2M) | 12 May 2021 | Sotheby’s New York |
| 6 | Devolved Parliament | £9.9M (about $12M to $13.8M) | 3 Oct 2019 | Sotheby’s London |
| 7 | Show Me the Monet | £7.55M (about $9.8M) | 21 Oct 2020 | Sotheby’s London |
| 8 | Banksquiat: Boy and Dog in Stop and Search | $9.72M (about £7.7M) | 17 May 2023 | Phillips |
| 9 | Forgive Us Our Trespassing | HK$64.1M (about $8.3M) | 4 Oct 2020 | Sotheby’s Hong Kong |
| 10 | The Flower Thrower (second version) | $8.08M (about £6.0M) | 18 Nov 2021 | Sotheby’s New York |
1. The shredded canvas: £18.6 million
In October 2018 a framed Girl with Balloon sold at Sotheby’s for about £1 million, and then a hidden shredder cut it into strips as the hammer fell. Banksy later renamed it. Three years later it came back to the same saleroom, and a telephone bidder paid £18.6 million, roughly 18 times more.
The price includes the buyer’s premium, as reported by the auction house.
2. The nurse-hero painting: £16.8 million
A small boy playing with a nurse superhero doll instead of Batman, painted in 2020 as a thank-you to the staff of Southampton General Hospital. It was sold at Christie’s with proceeds going to UK health charities.
It held the Banksy record until the shredded canvas passed it that October. The result includes the premium.
3. A balloon girl on found wood: $17.94 million
The newest big Banksy sale, and the third highest on record. This balloon girl had not been shown in public before it sold at an invite-only auction run by Fair Warning inside the Tiffany & Co. flagship on Fifth Avenue. The pre-sale estimate was $13 million to $18 million, and an anonymous phone bidder bought it.
Most headlines round it to $18 million. The exact total with fees was $17,940,000.
4. Sunflowers from Petrol Station: $14.56 million
A 2005 oil of Van Gogh-style sunflowers in a gas-station bucket, from the collection of the designer Paul Smith, who had owned it since it was made. It sold at Christie’s New York for $14,558,000 including premium, above an estimate of $12 million to $18 million.
The basis here is the Christie’s all-in total.
5. The Flower Thrower on canvas: $12.9 million
The Flower Thrower, a masked protester hurling a bouquet instead of a bomb, was estimated at $3 million to $5 million and sold for $12.9 million. Sotheby’s accepted cryptocurrency for it through a partnership with Coinbase Commerce.
The result includes the buyer’s premium.
6. Devolved Parliament: £9.9 million
Chimpanzees fill the House of Commons in this oil on canvas, a send-up of British politics. It was the Banksy auction record at the time, nearly 11 times its estimate of about £1.5 million. Sources vary on the dollar total, between about $12 million and $13.8 million, depending on the exchange rate used.
We list the sterling price because that is the figure everyone agrees on.
7. Show Me the Monet: £7.55 million
A riff on Monet’s water-lily bridge with shopping trolleys and a traffic cone in the pond. It sold for £7,551,600 at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction in October 2020, the second most expensive Banksy at that moment.
The sum is the all-in result.
8. Banksquiat: $9.72 million
The title blends the names Banksy and Jean-Michel Basquiat. The canvas shows a boy and a dog being searched, and Phillips sold it in May 2023 for about $9.7 million.
We use the dollar figure from the auction listing.
9. Forgive Us Our Trespassing: HK$64.1 million
Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold this canvas for HK$64.1 million, about 6.3 million pounds, during the autumn 2020 sales, when Asian bidders were paying record prices for contemporary art.
The dollar total is our conversion.
10. The Flower Thrower, second version: $8.08 million
Sotheby’s sold a second take on the Flower Thrower six months after the first, for about $8.1 million. Two sales of one image in a single year show how deep demand for it had become.
Basis: the Sotheby’s New York total, as listed in the auction summary.
Records set in 2025 and 2026
One result changed the table. On 20 May 2026 a Banksy balloon-girl work sold for $17.94 million at Fair Warning’s invite-only sale at Tiffany & Co. in New York, taking third place on the list. That is the first major Banksy to reach auction in 2026. We found no other Banksy result that cracked the top ten in 2025 or 2026.
What drives these prices
- The shredding story. The record holder is the only artwork in the list that changed shape at the point of sale.
- Charity helps. The nurse-hero painting was sold to benefit health charities, and bidders paid accordingly.
- Subjects with a hook. Balloon girls, flower throwers and chimpanzee parliaments are recognisable at a glance.
- Freshness. Works that had never appeared in public, like the 2026 canvas, attract extra attention.
Banksy’s auction history is short but steep. In October 2006 a set of six Kate Moss silk-screens sold at Sotheby’s London for £50,400, then an auction record for him. In February 2007 Bombing Middle England made over £102,000, and in April 2007 Space Girl and Bird reached £288,000 at Bonhams. The top of today’s list is more than 60 times that.
FAQ
What is the most expensive Banksy ever sold?
Love Is in the Bin, sold for £18.6 million (about $25.4 million) at Sotheby’s London on 14 October 2021.
What is the most recent big Banksy sale?
A balloon-girl work on found wood, sold for $17.94 million on 20 May 2026 at an invite-only auction in New York.
Why did Love Is in the Bin shred itself?
Banksy had hidden a shredder in the frame. It cut the canvas partway as the original sale in October 2018 concluded.
How much did the NHS tribute painting sell for?
£16.8 million (about $23.2 million) at Christie’s London in March 2021, with proceeds going to UK health charities.
Is Banksy’s art sold by the artist?
Banksy does not sell at auction himself; works reach the market through collectors and charity sales.
Are the dollar figures exact?
No. Sterling sales are converted at the time of sale, so we say “about”.
How we put this list together
We ranked each entry by its verified sale price, using auction results and disclosed sales compiled in an internal valuation model. Prices are approximate and change over time.
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Last updated: October 2026.
