Banksy Kate Moss

Banksy’s Kate Moss first appeared in 2005. Interestingly enough, when first released as a set of prints, Banksy’s Kate Moss didn’t do very well in the art market, going under the hammer somewhere in the vicinity of 50K. However, roughly four years later, the same work had risen to the status of a six figure reserve in the auction world. Banksy made the same work an even more personal tribute and wedding gift for Kate Moss, who is known to be an ardent fan of the artist.

Banksy painted this in 2011 while the famous super-model was on her honeymoon. She returned from the Mediterranean to find the work waiting for her in her bathroom, which was being redone at the time. Who arranged Banksy’s access to Moss’s residence and commissioned the work is a mystery, but it goes without saying that it was someone from her inner circle.

Banksy’s Kate Moss is done in the style of Andy Warhol’s tribute to Marilyn Monroe, which too was a silkscreen print. Banksy has paid tributes to the greats from the pop-art world before as well, such as the Keith Haring-styled dog in his under-discussed and mysterious, Choose Your Weapon.

The released versions of Banksy’s Kate Moss have come in two different forms. We begin with the first version which was an edition numbering 50. Later on came the colourways edition, which were made as a set of 6 different chromatic combos of Moss. Since there were 20 of each print, the total number in this edition is 120. Alongside these prints, there are 12 more canvas reincarnations of the colourways edition plus 5 of the original colour edition.