Banksy graffiti destroyed: why the fate of his works is rarely agreed upon

Only the earliest risers in London were able to spot this work. On Sunday night, two days after nearly 900 people were arrested at a rally in support of the banned group Palestine Action, graffiti appeared on the wall of the Royal Courts of Justice in the centre of the British capital.

It shows a judge wearing a traditional robe and wig lifting a gavel over a protester lying on his back, holding a blood-stained placard. Street artist Banksy claimed responsibility for the stencil by posting a photo on his Instagram account. Despite the graffiti artist's notoriety, his work was quickly covered by hoardings, before being erased on Wednesday, September 10.

Asked by The Guardian newspaper, a spokesperson for the British judicial authorities said that the artwork had to be removed because the court was a listed building and that they were "obliged to preserve its original character." This is not the first time that the fate of a work by the Bristol-born artist has caused controversy.

In 2014, the appearance of graffiti depicting a group of pigeons carrying anti-immigration signs – “ Migrants are not welcome,” “Go back to Africa,” and “ Leave us our worms” – on a wall in the seaside resort of Clacton-on-Sea caused a stir online. The town hall quickly removed it after receiving complaints accusing the work of being “racist.” Without knowing that Banksy was the author and was instead seeking to denounce the rejection of foreigners.

Even without creating controversy, the very nature of his art makes him vulnerable. Posted in the street, often illegally, his graffiti is sometimes stolen , covered up by other graffiti artists, or even destroyed. In Calais, at the height of the migration crisis, in December 2015, the artist had affixed a reinterpretation of Géricault's Raft of the Medusa to a building. But this stencil, a tribute to migrants awaiting a providential departure to the United Kingdom, was erased two years later, during a simple facade renovation.

In addition to the plight of migrants, Banksy also regularly denounces the excesses of capitalism in his works. It's no surprise, then, that the graffiti artist opposes the commodification of his works.

In October 2018, the artist made this known in a spectacular way. Just after the auction of his famous Girl with a Balloon , the graffiti was cut into thin strips by a shredder. An act of vandalism claimed by the artist, who confirmed that he had hidden the machine within the work " in case it came up for auction ."

But the move ultimately pleased the art market: the shredded work was resold for 18.6 million pounds (21.8 million euros) in October 2022, more than 20 times the original sale price.

More recently, a decision by the Italian government has raised a new question about the fate of Banksy's works. Authorities announced in October 2023 that they would restore "Migrant Child," a tag affixed four years earlier to the edge of a Venice canal. This decision has angered the art world, many of whom believe that street art should remain ephemeral.