In Short
“You paint 100 chimpanzees and they still call you a guerrilla artist”
– Banksy
Stenciled in spray paint atop an Old Masters reproduction encased in a gilded frame, Monkey Poison, 2004, exemplifies the satirical overtones of Banksy’s renowned street art transferred to the realm of “high art”. Perched atop a tree branch, Banksy’s monkey intrudes upon a countryside vignette, guzzling gasoline from a carton labeled with a flammable sign. The chimpanzee—a recurring motif for the artist since the early 2000s, which has now become one of his most iconic and extensively reproduced images—overlooks this pastoral scene with eyes wide-open, ostensibly unaware of the poison he consumes. Perhaps a satirical commentary on the excess of modern-day gasoline consumption, or a pointed critique on animal cruelty, Monkey Poison brims with the sardonic humor and socio-political undercurrents quintessential of the artist’s oeuvre.
Though Banksy is renowned for his brash albeit poignant critiques of the art world, the theme of satire is not without great art historical precedence. Drawing from a rich lineage of predecessors, dating from William Hogarth’s 18th century masterpieces that comically exposed the corruption and chaos of the British bourgeoise, to Marcel Duchamp’s early 20th century iconoclasm in the form of Fountain, 1917, and L.H.O.O.Q, 1919, Banksy here utilizes zoological symbolism to ridicule contemporary society through a darkly humorous lens. Bridging the disparate realms of graffiti and high art, Monkey Poison is Banksy’s own tongue-in-cheek response to the corrupt modern-day world that we inhabit, inviting both laughter and contemplation from those who encounter it.
“As soon as I cut my first stencil I could feel the power there. I also like the political edge. All graffiti is low-level dissent, but stencils have an extra history,” Banksy has remarked. “They’ve been used to start revolutions and to stop wars”
– BanksyHow Banksy Broke into the Art World
Museum Interventions
In 2005, Banksy strolled into notable museums in the U.K. and New York—such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History—and hung his own paintings among the institutions’ masterpieces without catching the attention of the invigilators. This prank, embracing the same idiosyncratic interventions of his Crude Oils, was just one of many in which critiqued the museum and art world.
Banksy’s You have beautiful eyes, 2005 installed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Bristol Beginnings Banksy—whose identity remains unknown to this day—was born in Bristol, United Kingdom in 1974. Originally a freehand graffiti artist, he participated in the underground hip-hop and street art scene in Bristol, where his work garnered much attention, but little else is known about the elusive artist’s life before he relocated to London in 1999.
Banksy, The Mild Mild West, 1999. Bristol, United Kingdom, Artwork: Courtesy of Pest Control Office
Art World Breakthrough
After moving to London as a means of preserving his anonymity, Banksy had his first exhibitions—both in warehouses and tunnels around the city but also in proper gallery spaces, such as at Frank Sosa’s 33 1/3 Gallery in Los Angeles. It was during this time, in which he was introduced to the global art world, that he executed some of his most iconic works. Meanwhile, he continued exploring street art as a means of commenting on major international issues, such as capitalism, authority, and violence.
Banksy, Girl with Balloon, circa 2002. Waterloo Bridge, London, Artwork: Courtesy of Pest Control Office
Stenciling Discoveries 
Banksy, Mona Lisa Target (right facing), 2000. Private Collection, Artwork: Courtesy of Pest Control Office
In 2000, Banksy began experimenting with stencils, which allowed him to reproduce the same key motifs—monkeys, helicopters, rats, children, etc.—efficiently, quickly, and consistently. Banksy used this method for Monkey Poison for both his signature and the central figure, and the reasons for his embrace of stenciling go far beyond its convenience and quality.Crude Oils
Also since 2000, Banksy has “re-mixed” found works, incorporating his own motifs of monkeys, gas masks, and helicopters into original paintings and Old Masters reproductions he sourced from flea markets, particularly Portobello market in London. In the present work, the artist has spray painted a monkey drinking from a can of gasoline as he would a juice box atop a found 18th or 19th century canvas depicting the transportational predecessor of gas-guzzling cars: a horse-drawn carriage.
In these works, such as Monkey Poison, the artist took great care both off the composition and framing; each has a carefully executed artist’s frame accentuating their status as “fine art.” In this way, the Crude Oils exemplify Banksy’s signature fusion of pop culture and the “high” culture typically found in art galleries.
Monkey Mania
The chimpanzee featured in Monkey Poison has been a recurrent motif in the artist’s oeuvre since 2002, when he painted the graffiti piece Laugh Now. Witty rejoinders to Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, Banksy’s chimps are tongue-in-cheek mockeries of politicians—such as in Devolved Parliament, 2009—and other figures of authority.
Banksy, Laugh Now, 2002. Artwork: Courtesy of Pest Control Office
Museum Interventions
In 2005, Banksy strolled into notable museums in the U.K. and New York—such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History—and hung his own paintings among the institutions’ masterpieces without catching the attention of the invigilators. This prank, embracing the same idiosyncratic interventions of his Crude Oils, was just one of many in which critiqued the museum and art world.
Banksy’s You have beautiful eyes, 2005 installed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Bristol Beginnings Banksy—whose identity remains unknown to this day—was born in Bristol, United Kingdom in 1974. Originally a freehand graffiti artist, he participated in the underground hip-hop and street art scene in Bristol, where his work garnered much attention, but little else is known about the elusive artist’s life before he relocated to London in 1999.
Banksy, The Mild Mild West, 1999. Bristol, United Kingdom, Artwork: Courtesy of Pest Control Office
Provenance
Private Collection, United Kingdom
Private Collection, United States
Acquired from the above by the present ownerArtist Biography
Banksy
British • 1975 - N/A
Anonymous street artist Banksy first turned to graffiti as a miserable fourteen year old disillusioned with school. Inspired by the thriving graffiti community in his home city, Bristol, Banksy's works began appearing on trains and walls in 1993, and by 2001 his blocky, spray-painted works had cropped up all over the United Kingdom. Typically crafting his images with spray paint and cardboard stencils, Banksy is able to achieve a meticulous level of detail. His aesthetic is clean and instantly readable due to his knack for reducing complex political and social statements to simple visual elements.
His graffiti, paintings and screenprints use whimsy and humour to satirically critique war, capitalism, hypocrisy and greed — with not even the Royal family safe from his anti-establishment wit.
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Monkey Poison
stencilled with the artist's name "BANKSY" lower left; further signed and dated "Banksy 2004!" on the stretcher
oil and spray enamel on found canvas, in artist’s frame
image 24 x 36 in. (61 x 91.4 cm)
overall 32 1/2 x 44 1/4 in. (82.6 x 112.4 cm)
Executed in 2004, this work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Pest Control.
Estimate
$1,800,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $2,000,000
Amanda Lo Iacono
Head of Evening Sale
New York
+1 212 940 1278
20th Century and Contemporary Art Evening Sale
New York Auction 2 July 2020
