£23,000-£35,000 VALUE (EST.)
$45,000-$60,000 VALUE (EST.)
$40,000-$60,000 VALUE (EST.)
¥190,000-¥300,000 VALUE (EST.)
€26,000-€40,000 VALUE (EST.)
$220,000-$340,000 VALUE (EST.)
¥3,710,000-¥5,650,000 VALUE (EST.)
$28,000-$45,000 VALUE (EST.)
This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
Screenprint, 2004
Unsigned Print Edition of 600
H 50cm x W 70cm
TradingFloor
Own this artwork?
Joe Syer, Head of Urban & Contemporary Art
Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 2023 | Christie's London - United Kingdom | Barcode - Unsigned Print | |||
January 2023 | Phillips London - United Kingdom | Barcode - Unsigned Print | |||
November 2022 | Forum Auctions London - United Kingdom | Barcode - Unsigned Print | |||
August 2022 | Sotheby's Online - United Kingdom | Barcode - Unsigned Print | |||
December 2021 | Tate Ward Auctions - United Kingdom | Barcode - Unsigned Print | |||
October 2021 | Forum Auctions London - United Kingdom | Barcode - Unsigned Print | |||
July 2021 | International Art Centre - New Zealand | Barcode - Unsigned Print |
Banksy's Barcode is an unsigned screen print released in 2004, depicting a leopard emerging from a barcode resembling bent cage bars, in his signature monochromatic, stencilled style. Produced in an edition of 600, it comments on the connection between consumerist capitalism and humanity's disregard for other species.
Banksy often employs a monochromatic palette to emphasise his powerful message and this black and white artwork is that signature stencil-style. It shows a majestic leopard in the foreground coming forth as if it was exiting the frame towards the viewer. Behind the leopard is a cage, which resembles a barcode from which the leopard seems to have escaped, given its bent bars.
Since Banksy’s beginnings in graffiti, he has been noted for his social commentary, taking on issues from police brutality, to the refugee crisis, war and animal cruelty. Here Banksy might be commenting on the way in which humans 'use' the environment and those creatures within it for their own entertainment or amusement – the most notable example of course, being zoos or sea-parks. The motif of the barcode suggests a critique of consumerism and commercial capitalism, which puts a price tag on everything including animal and human life. Animals are among his favourite symbols, often used in subversive artworks such as rats (Love Rat, Gangsta Rat) and monkeys (Laugh Now) also as a potential metaphor for people of the working class.
Sell to the largest Banksy collector network in the world, at a guaranteed 0% seller's fee.