The World's Largest Modern & Contemporary Prints & Editions Platform
Grappling Hook - Mixed Media by Banksy 2017 - MyArtBroker

Grappling Hook
Mixed Media

Banksy

Price data unavailable

AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.

There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.

Medium: Mixed Media

Edition size: 26

Year: 2017

Size: H 47cm x W 60cm

Signed: No

Format: Mixed Media

TradingFloor

3 in network
20 want this
Find out how Buying or Selling works.
Track this artwork in realtime

Watch artwork, manage valuations, track your portfolio and return against your collection

Track auction value trend

The value of Banksy's Grappling Hook (unsigned) is estimated to be worth between £130,000 to £200,000. This mixed media artwork, created in 2017, has an auction history of two sales since its entry to the market on 6th March 2019. There have been no sales in the last 12 months. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 26.

Unlock up-to-the-minute market data on Banksy's Grappling Hook, login or create a free account today

Auction Results

Auction DateAuction HouseLocation
Hammer Price
Return to Seller
Buyer Paid
September 2019Sotheby's Online United Kingdom
March 2019Bonhams New Bond Street United Kingdom

Meaning & Analysis

Created for The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, Grappling Hook is – in Banksy’s own words – a “military grade grappling hook and combined spiritual ornament." The sculpture turns a three-pronged steel grappling hook into a crucifix, attached to a 4.4m (14’ 5”) piece of rope. Grappling Hook comes with a special cardboard box with hand-stencilled artworks. It was released in 2017 as a signed edition of 26.

The Walled Off Hotel’s gift shop sells souvenirs by Banksy to guests staying at the hotel and online. It was the first time in close to four years that Banksy’s artwork was available on the primary market. While most of its merchandise are open edition, Grappling Hook was a limited-edition offering and was quickly snatched up after the shop opened.

Like many other pieces for the Walled Off Hotel’s shop, and indeed the hotel itself, Grappling Hook addresses the conflict between Israel and Palestine. But while other souvenirs have a comparatively simpler concept, such as a reproduction of the hotel’s key fob or artworks made from pieces of the West Bank wall, Grappling Hook offers a more metaphorical approach. As the barrier divides two holy sites in Christianity – The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine, and The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Old Town Jerusalem, Israel – Grappling Hook can be seen as a tongue-in-cheek approach of, literally, scaling the West Bank wall and, symbolically, of art overcoming the divide put in place by religion, politics and oppression.

Grappling Hook follows a long line of artworks that Banksy has created in Bethlehem. Over a decade before he designed Walled Off Hotel, he sprayed the first Love Is In The Air (Flower Thrower) graffiti piece in the city in 2003, which also addresses two of Banksy’s favourite contrasting themes: peace and violence.

  • Renowned British street artist, Banksy, is the enigmatic figure behind some of the most subversive works in the Urban Art scene. Despite his anonymity, the artists' disruptive stunts have not only gained him notoriety, but they have vocalised his stance on many social and political issues. As seen with the likes of Girl With Balloon and Napalm, Banksy uses his distinctive stencil technique to produce thought-provoking commentaries on challenging themes. The showcase of rebellion that lines his work has caused his secondary market value to soar in recent years, propelling him to the top of the Urban Art scene.