Girl With Balloon is the quintessential Banksy image. Using his signature graffiti stencil technique, this motif is internationally recognisable.

Banksy released the unsigned and signed prints in 2004/2005 in low edition sizes; there are just 150 Girl With Balloon signed prints, and 600 unsigned, making it one of the most sought-after Bansky prints in his entire oeuvre.

It depicts a young girl whose hair and dress are blowing in the wind, reaching for, or releasing, a red, heart-shaped balloon that has slipped from her grasp. The gesture and the red balloon, an archetypal symbol of childhood and freedom, present a powerful message that can be read in a number of ways. Whether you see the girl as losing the balloon, or about to catch it, the meaning can be interpreted as a loss of innocence or the arrival of new hope and love.

The image first appeared in London's Southbank in 2002, together with a quotation that read ‘there is always hope’, before the council painted over it. In response, Banksy produced it again in a new context – a miniature version that appeared on the cardboard backing of a cheap Ikea frame, which quickly made its mark on the art market when it realised £73,250 at a sale at Bonhams in 2012.

Since then, versions of Girl with Balloon have realised well above this. Girl with Balloon – Colour AP (Gold) realised £1,104,000 at Sotheby’s Modern Renaissance: A Cross-Category Sale in 25 March 2021, almost double its high estimate. The screenprint flew past the previous auction record held by a Banksy print, set by Girl with Balloon – Colour AP (Purple) at Christie’s in September 2020 for £791,250.