Banksy's Applause Sets New Auction record In Sotheby's March Print Sale
Applause © Banksy 2006
Market Reports
Sotheby's Online Prints & Multiples sale closed at £2.4 million at the hammer, finishing 21% above its low estimate with an 86% sell-through rate and 71% of lots transacting within or above estimate. The aggregate numbers tell a story of a stable, active market. But the detail of this sale lies elsewhere – in a cluster of results that significantly exceeded expectations, and one in particular that has no clear precedent.
Banksy Applause Auction Record: £96,000 at Sotheby's
Banksy's Applause sold for £96,000, setting a new auction record for the work and surpassing its previous high set in 2022. For context, this is a print that has historically traded between £20,000 and £30,000. The result represents a multiple of three to four times its established trading range, with no obvious single catalyst to explain it.
The chart below plots monthly average hammer prices for Applause against sales volume from mid-2023 through to March 2026. For much of that period, the work transacted infrequently – typically one lot per appearance – with average hammer prices ranging between £7,619 and £20,911. The March 2026 result at £75,591 average hammer, culminating in the £96,000 record, sits entirely outside the historical range this work has established over the past three years.
Applause was not the only Banksy result in the sale to attract attention. An unsigned Girl With Balloon hammered at £90,000, well above its typical trading range of £50,000–£65,000. Very Little Helps achieved £50,000 against an £18,000 estimate – a work that sold for £20,000 in a March sale just twelve months earlier. Across the Banksy group, works that would ordinarily transact within narrow, well-established bands attracted competitive bidding that pushed results significantly beyond expectation.
Whether this represents a broader re-rating of the mid-tier Banksy print market, a concentrated moment of demand, or something else entirely remains unclear. What is clear is that the March 2026 Sotheby's sale produced a cluster of Banksy results without recent precedent, and the market will be watching follow-on sales closely.
Keith Haring Print Prices: Growing Exceeds High Estimate by 400%
The highest result of the sale was Keith Haring's Growing, which achieved £150,000 against a high estimate, exceeding it by 400%. Silence Equals Death and Pop Shop prints followed, achieving results 57% and 94% above estimate respectively. Taken together, these outcomes point to sustained and competitive demand for Haring's most culturally embedded imagery – a market that continues to reward clarity of subject and strong visual recognition.
Sotheby's Print Sale Results: Mid-Market Stability in the £5,000–£15,000 Range
The strongest and most consistent bidding activity was concentrated in the £5,000–£15,000 range, which continues to function as the most liquid segment of the print market. The majority of works in the mid-market transacted within estimate, reflecting a well-calibrated segment where pricing is supported by comparability and repetition rather than speculation.
Bridget Riley's black-and-white screenprints performed in line with expectations, with Untitled (Winged Curve) achieving £25,000. Robert Indiana's Chosen Love achieved £13,000 against a £3,000 estimate, driven by competitive bidding at the accessible end of the market.
Andy Warhol Print Auction Results: Top-End Selectivity Continues
At the upper end, the three lots carrying estimates above £100,000 – all Andy Warhol – two failed to sell, while the third achieved below estimate. A separate Warhol lot, Sunset, did exceed £100,000, demonstrating that demand at this level persists but remains highly contingent on the specific work and its positioning within the sale context. In an online environment, where works compete without the heightened visibility of a live auction, this selectivity can become more pronounced.
Christie's March 2026 Print Sale Results: £1.9 Million at the Hammer
Christie's concurrent print sale closed at £1.9 million at the hammer, finishing 18% above its low estimate. Warhol dominated the top results – the complete Electric Chair set achieved £120,000 at its low estimate and the complete Truck set hit £120,000 at its high estimate, while Mick Jagger sold for £75,000 squarely within estimates. Roy Lichtenstein's Seascape achieved £80,000 against a £60,000 high estimate, and Riley's Silvered 2 hit £22,000 against a £15,000 high – both solid outperformances. Nothing in the Christie's sale was unexpected. The story of the March print sales was definitively at Sotheby's.