The Banksy artwork owned by celebrities

From Brad Pitt to Christina Aguilera, everyone wants a piece of Bristol's favourite graffiti artist

Banksy's Flower Thrower, part of his Love is in the Air series

Banksy might be anonymous, but that hasn't stopped him becoming one of Bristol's most famous celebrities.

The artist of course grew up here, and he's gone on to become world famous for his satirical street art.

His artworks regularly fetch millions of pounds at auction, and he occasionally produces bespoke pieces for dedicated (and rich) collectors.

Much of his work, then, is owned by celebrities, who seek to associate themselves with a renowned but still cool artist, and who need something to spend their money on.

We therefore thought we'd put together a list of 10 celebrities who own Banksy pieces, so you can see who is just as obsessed with the anonymous prankster as us.

 

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie


 


Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt attend an official Academy Screening of BY THE SEA

Brad and Angelina are perhaps the most famous fans of Banksy, having paid £1 million for a collection of his works at a London auction in 2007. Five years later, Brad reportedly commissioned a bespoke Banksy piece about Hurricane Katrina, the storm that devastated New Orleans in 2005. The mural, which covers a whole wall, was placed in Brad and Ange's private art gallery, though it's not known who got all the art when the couple split.

Brad would later pay Banksy a visit in person to the latter's Dismaland exhibition in Weston-Super-Mare.

 

Kate Moss


 

Talking of murals, Banksy reportedly decorated the bathroom of Kate Moss in his own unique way in 2011, culminating in a piece valued at £200,000 at the time.

Christina Aguilera snagged a bargain in 2009 when she paid £25,000 for three Banksy pieces, according to the Independent. One was an original and two were prints, including one depicting a lesbian Queen Victoria and a prostitute.

 

Drake


 

Drake reportedly highlighted Bristol's favourite artist on Instagram in 2013, showing only the corner of an unknown piece signed, "Banksy '04". The letters "A/P", meaning "artist's proof" were also shown, so it could have been an early print or simply a test of some kind.

 

Christina Aguilera


 

Christina Aguilera snagged herself a bargain in 2009 when she bought three Banksy pieces for just £25,000. One of the three was an original, while two were prints, including a drawing of Queen Victoria in an intimate pose with a prostitute.

 

Chris Martin


 

Coldplay will be performing at Live At Worthy Farm on Saturday May 22

Chris Martin is also a big Banksy fan. The Coldplay frontman spent a cool £400,000 on a Banksy painting of a heart-shaped balloon covered with plasters. The painting was sold at a fundraiser for Haiti earthquake victims in 2014, and in bagging it Martin gazumped bids from Bette Midler and Kevin Bacon.

 

Bono


 

Another rock god, Bono, commissioned Banksy to paint this piece, titled Sweeping It Under The Carpet, on a wall in north London. The commission was part of a 2011 edition of the Independent guest-edited by the U2 frontman, and is intended to highlight the West's reluctance to tackle the Aids crisis in Africa.

While Bono commissioned the piece for the Independent, it's unknown what happened to it after a stint at Gallery 27 in London.

 

Justin Bieber


 

The Canadian heartthrob Justin Bieber had a tattoo done on his arm in 2014 that mimicked Banksy's famous Balloon Girl painting. Banksy responded to the news at the time by simply saying, "Controversial," while Bieber explained the drawings significance to him by warning fans: "Don't let your dreams float away."

 

George Michael


 

George Michael

George Michael had already spent £400,000 on two Banksy canvases by the time he spent a further £2 million on a bespoke mural on his London home in 2012, according to the Mirror. It's not clear what happened to the three pieces after Michael's sad death in 2016.

 

Damien Hirst


 

Artist Damien Hirst who has long had connections with North Devon

We'll end with a fellow artist of Banksy's, as Damien Hirst owns "a tranche" of the Bristolian's artworks. He professed his love for Banksy to the Guardian in 2006, saying: "Anyone like Banksy who makes it entertaining, and treats people like people instead of consumers, is brilliant. He's a surrealist who makes you think about the world in a completely different way."

The pair have collaborated in the past, perhaps most notably in 2013 on 'Sorry the lifestyle you ordered is currently out of stock', which was sold at Sotheby's to a private American collector for $2.3 million.

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 5, 2021