Lot 3720 - A209 Prints & Multiples - Thursday, 20. June 2024, 10.00 AM
BANKSY
(Bristol 1974–lives and works in England)
Flower Thrower Triptych (Grey). 2019.
Colour screenprint on recycled cardboard. 268/300. Signed in pencil on the lower left of the left board: BANKSY. Also numbered on the reverse of the centre and left boards. Sheet size Flowers: 74.9 × 55.1 cm, Thrower: 91.9 × 61.2 cm, Hand: 37.2 × 47 cm. Published by Gross Domestic Product (with the attached label).
Certificate:
This lot is accompanied by a certificate from the Pest Control Office, which was not yet available at the time of printing.
Certificate received on 27.5.2024:
Office of Pest Control, London, 9.5.2024 (49806/300/268).
Provenance:
- Gross Domestic Product.
- Private collection, Switzerland, acquired directly from Gross Domestic Product in 2019.
Website: https://shop.grossdomesticproduct.com/collections/frontpage/products/banksy-thrower
In 2003, a mural was painted in Beit Sahour on the West Bank that has since become an icon. On the wall of a house, the British graffiti artist Banksy painted a masked young man depicted in the act of throwing. Instead of a Molotov cocktail or a stone, as his stance suggests, and as we know for example from countless photos of violent confrontations, the man is holding a bouquet of flowers. Is the man a demonstrator or a rioter? The absurd situation of the obviously angry, violent man with a bouquet of flowers in his hand leaves the viewer puzzled or even smiling.
The flowers are, of course, to be understood as hope for peaceful solutions to conflicts, and by placing this statement in an area of recurring and embattled crisis, Banksy reinforces the meaning. His political and pacifist stance is well known and a recurring theme in his work. The motif can be found under various titles that pick up on the different possible interpretations: Flower Thrower, Flower Bomber, Rage, or Love is in the Air.
Copied countless times, the artist himself has also created various works based on this mural. The present triptych “Flower Thrower Triptych (Grey)” from 2019 is probably his most recent version. In it, he divides the man into three individual parts: the bouquet, the thrower, and the hand; each work is framed separately. The classic representation in the form of a triptych lends the work the character of an old-master panel painting.
In 2003, a mural was painted in Beit Sahour on the West Bank that has since become an icon. On the wall of a house, the British graffiti artist Banksy painted a masked young man depicted in the act of throwing. Instead of a Molotov cocktail or a stone, as his stance suggests, and as we know for example from countless photos of violent confrontations, the man is holding a bouquet of flowers. Is the man a demonstrator or a rioter? The absurd situation of the obviously angry, violent man with a bouquet of flowers in his hand leaves the viewer puzzled or even smiling.
The flowers are, of course, to be understood as hope for peaceful solutions to conflicts, and by placing this statement in an area of recurring and embattled crisis, Banksy reinforces the meaning. His political and pacifist stance is well known and a recurring theme in his work. The motif can be found under various titles that pick up on the different possible interpretations: Flower Thrower, Flower Bomber, Rage, or Love is in the Air.
Copied countless times, the artist himself has also created various works based on this mural. The present triptych “Flower Thrower Triptych (Grey)” from 2019 is probably his most recent version. In it, he divides the man into three individual parts: the bouquet, the thrower, and the hand; each work is framed separately. The classic representation in the form of a triptych lends the work the character of an old-master panel painting.
CHF 100 000 / 180 000 | (€ 103 090 / 185 570)
Sold for CHF 106 250 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.