(Fr)agile
1 work
Banksy Love Rat (Signed) For Sale
Banksy
Love Rat (Signed), 2004
Screen print Signed and numbered
19 3/4 x 13 3/4 in 50 x 35 cm
Edition
Edition of 150
About this work
For Banksy, the rat has become an iconic and recurring motif. Banksy's rats are depicted in various contexts and situations, often appearing as stenciled graffiti in public spaces or as prints.These rats serve as a metaphorical tool for Banksy to convey his social and political commentary. They are portrayed engaging in human-like activities or interacting with elements of urban life, conveying messages of rebellion, social critique, and wit. These rodent figures are sometimes depicted wearing clothes, holding signs, or carrying out acts that mirror human behavior, provoking thought and reflection on societal issues.The rat prints by Banksy are a reflection of his signature style, combining simple yet impactful imagery with clever and thought-provoking messages. They have garnered attention and admiration for their ability to communicate powerful ideas in a visually striking and accessible manner.The rats in Banksy's art often represent the overlooked or marginalized members of society, challenging viewers to reconsider their perceptions and question authority, norms, and power structures. Their presence in Banksy's art adds depth to his overall narrative, offering a playful yet thought-provoking commentary on various contemporary social and political issues.
Price on Application
Auction History
LOVE RAT · Banksy · Sotheby's · 2020-09 · $130,617
Love Rat · Banksy · Sotheby's · 2022-04 · $111,897
Love Rat · Banksy · Christie's · 2022-03 · $90,619
Love Rat · Banksy · Christie's · 2020-09 · $87,482
Love Rat · Banksy · Phillips · 2020-12 · $81,249
More from this series
More series by Banksy
About the Love Rat Series
Banksy Love Rat Prints For Sale
Love Rat stands as one of Banksy's most emotionally resonant works from his pivotal 2004 period, when the artist was establishing himself as the preeminent voice in contemporary street art. This iconic image depicts a stenciled rat—Banksy's signature motif—clutching a wilted heart, creating a poignant commentary on urban alienation, failed romance, and the commodification of love. The work embodies Banksy's ability to transform the mundane into the profound, using his characteristic dark humor and accessible imagery to explore universal human experiences of disappointment and disillusionment.
Executed in Banksy's signature stencil technique, Love Rat demonstrates the artist's mastery of reduction and visual impact. The crisp lines and bold contrast between the rat's silhouette and its background create immediate visual recognition, while the drooping heart introduces a narrative element that elevates the work beyond mere street art into fine art commentary. This piece emerged during a transformative period when Banksy began producing limited edition prints alongside his guerrilla street installations, making his subversive vision accessible to collectors while maintaining the anti-establishment ethos that defined his practice.
The market distinction between signed and unsigned versions represents a significant consideration for serious collectors. The signed edition of Love Rat commands premium positioning within Banksy's print market, with the artist's authentication serving as both provenance and artistic endorsement. The unsigned version, while equally powerful in its imagery and message, occupies a different tier in the collecting hierarchy. Both versions maintain strong collector demand due to the work's emotional resonance, iconic status within Banksy's oeuvre, and the relatively limited number of impressions that reached the market during the 2004 release.
Love Rat continues to appreciate as collectors recognize its importance within Banksy's broader examination of urban life and human relationships. The work's cultural relevance has only intensified as subsequent years have validated Banksy's position as one of the most important artists of the 21st century.
For acquisition inquiries regarding Love Rat, contact Guy Hepner.
About Banksy
Banksy prints for sale at Guy Hepner include authenticated signed and unsigned editions: Girl with Balloon, Choose Your Weapon, Tesco Soup Cans, Fragile, Laugh Now, and Flower Thrower. Buy Banksy prints in New York through our gallery at 177 Tenth Avenue — all works sourced with full provenance and authentication documentation. We also buy Banksy art and offer free valuations for sellers.
Banksy is the world’s most celebrated anonymous street artist — a figure whose identity remains unknown but whose visual language is instantly recognisable across continents. Emerging from the Bristol graffiti scene in the early 1990s, Banksy developed a stencil-based technique that allowed rapid, precise execution on walls, bridges, and public surfaces from London and New York to Gaza and the West Bank. His work fuses dark humour, political provocation, and formal rigour in a way that has made him equally at home on the street and in the auction room. Today, Banksy art for sale represents one of the most dynamic and hotly contested segments of the contemporary secondary market.
Banksy Art For Sale
Banksy art for sale encompasses original spray-painted canvases, unique works on board, signed and unsigned print editions, and — on rare occasions — documented wall works sold with photographic authentication. The breadth of subjects he has addressed is remarkable: consumer capitalism (Tesco Soup Cans, Trolley Hunters), celebrity culture (Kate Moss, Andy Warhol), surveillance and control (Radar Rat, CCTV Watching), and hope and fragility (Girl with Balloon, Fragile).
The benchmark auction event in Banksy’s market history remains the October 2018 Sotheby’s London sale, when Girl with Balloon — having just sold for £1.04 million — was partially shredded by a device concealed in the frame, becoming Love is in the Bin. The reconstituted work subsequently sold in October 2021 for £18.5 million, underscoring the extraordinary commercial power of Banksy’s interventions and the appetite of the global collector base for his most iconic imagery.
Banksy Paintings For Sale
Banksy paintings for sale — unique spray-painted works on canvas or board — are the rarest and most valuable category of his output. These works, typically produced in small numbers for specific shows or commissions, carry full documentation from Pest Control and have appeared at auction with results ranging from six to eight figures. Choose Your Weapon, Monkey Parliament, and large-format stencil canvases from his early 2000s output represent the apex of private collector demand.
Provenance is paramount for Banksy paintings. Unbroken ownership history from first sale through to the present day, combined with a current Pest Control certificate, is the minimum standard for any serious acquisition. Works without this documentation carry substantial authentication risk regardless of visual appearance.
Banksy Prints: Signed vs Unsigned
Banksy print editions form the most accessible and widely traded category of his market. Published through his own distribution channels and in very limited numbers, these screenprints exist in signed and unsigned variants — a distinction that has a significant impact on value. Signed editions — with Banksy’s hand signature — command multiples of two to five times comparable unsigned editions in the same print run.
Key print series sought by collectors include: Girl with Balloon (multiple colourways), Choose Your Weapon, Kate Moss, Tesco Soup Cans, Fragile, Radar Rat, Flower Thrower, and Di-Faced Tenners. Edition sizes vary from as few as 150 to several hundred, and sell-through rates at auction confirm strong secondary demand across all major series.
Banksy Authentication: Pest Control
Pest Control is Banksy’s official authentication body and the only organisation authorised to certify works as genuine. When you buy Banksy prints or original art, a current Pest Control Certificate of Authenticity (COA) is the non-negotiable standard. The COA features a torn currency note — half retained by Pest Control, half with the work — as a security measure, and is registered against a specific edition and owner.
At Guy Hepner Gallery, every Banksy work offered for sale is accompanied by Pest Control documentation. We do not offer works without verified authentication, and our team is available to guide collectors through the acquisition process, including condition reporting, framing recommendations, and insurance valuation.
Ready to buy Banksy art? Contact Guy Hepner to explore our current inventory of authenticated Banksy prints and original works.