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Laugh Now - Unsigned Print by Banksy 2003 - MyArtBroker

Laugh Now
Unsigned Print

Banksy

£15,000-£22,000Value Indicator

$30,000-$45,000 Value Indicator

$28,000-$40,000 Value Indicator

¥150,000-¥210,000 Value Indicator

17,000-25,000 Value Indicator

$160,000-$230,000 Value Indicator

¥2,980,000-¥4,370,000 Value Indicator

$20,000-$30,000 Value Indicator

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70 x 50cm, Edition of 600, Screenprint

Medium: Screenprint
Edition size: 600
Year: 2003
Size: H 70cm x W 50cm
Signed: No
Format: Unsigned Print
Last Auction: December 2024

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Auction Results

Auction Date
Auction House
Location
Return to Seller
Hammer Price
Buyer Paid
December 2024
Great Western Auctions
United Kingdom
£11,050
£13,000
£16,120
June 2024
Leonard Joel, Melbourne
Australia
April 2024
Forum Auctions London
United Kingdom
April 2024
Rosebery's Fine Art Auctioneers
United Kingdom
September 2023
Lama
United States
September 2023
Sotheby's London
United Kingdom
April 2023
Sotheby's London
United Kingdom
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Track auction value trend

Banksy's Laugh Now (unsigned) from 2003, a screenprint, is estimated to be worth between £10,000 and £20,000. This artwork has been sold 40 times at auction since its initial sale on 24th October 2008. Over the past 12 months, the average selling price was £13,000, across a total of 1 sale. In the last five years, the hammer price has ranged from £13,000 in December 2024 to £67,593 in November 2020. The average annual growth rate of this piece is -11%. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 600.

Created with Highcharts 11.4.8Apr 2023Jul 2023Nov 2023Feb 2024May 2024Sep 2024Dec 2024£8,000£10,000£12,000£14,000£16,000£18,000© MyArtBroker

Meaning & Analysis

‘Laugh Now But One Day We’ll Be In Charge’, reads the sandwich board worn by the slightly ominous monkey replicated against a striking red background in this 1998 Banksy original, which first appeared in a Brighton nightclub in 2002 before going onto being released as a print the following year.

Much like with Banksy’s visual vocabulary in general, there can be various interpretations for the monkey figure in this work. It can be viewed as a representation of the oppressed, who walk the streets until they’re exhausted in order to spread their message. Such sandwich boards are usually associated with “prophets of doom”, preaching the looming apocalypse on the streets. Or perhaps it is simply a monkey, by which Banksy is commenting on how man has enslaved animals for centuries, including our distant primate relatives, much like he does in the work Barcode with a leopard. It could also be a symbol for the common man of the working class, who is exploited, exhausted and enslaved by capitalism, themes that Banksy regularly revisits through a range of various characters such as a rat in other famous prints like Love Rat and Gangsta Rat.

  • Renowned British street artist, Banksy, is the enigmatic figure behind some of the most subversive works in the Urban Art scene. Despite his anonymity, the artists' disruptive stunts have not only gained him notoriety, but they have vocalised his stance on many social and political issues. As seen with the likes of Girl With Balloon and Napalm, Banksy uses his distinctive stencil technique to produce thought-provoking commentaries on challenging themes. The showcase of rebellion that lines his work has caused his secondary market value to soar in recent years, propelling him to the top of the Urban Art scene.

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