Published by Backstage Books April 1st 2025
Format: Paperback/ 256 pages, 8 b&w illustrations
Hey, does anyone remember the hoo-hah about young British artists? Same time as Britpop, and has probably worn about as well – or not. If that’s your scene it’s all here – Damien Hirst, Lucien Freud, Francis Bacon, the Pharmacy, the Colony and Groucho clubs – and, of course, Banksy.
Robin Barton is an art dealer whose first show in the 90s at his Bankrobber gallery in Mayfair displayed Peter Doherty’s Blood Paintings. Since then, he’s entwined himself into becoming celebrity street artist Banksy’s most prolific and controversial street works dealer.
Whether you agree with the book’s assertion that Banksy defined a decade, i.e. the noughties, the book recounts Barton’s adventures with great aplomb, “a darkly comic tale of art and avarice, greed and excess, revenge and retribution” indeed.
From his first sale of a Banksy street piece called What? in 2007 for a quarter of a million pounds, Barton outlines how he went about, often brutally, removing and then restoring the Banksy art he took from walls (from Bethlehem to Margate). Tales of famous works abound. Slave Labour exchanges hands for £1m, and a similar fee is paid for Girl With Balloon by George Lucas.
The cut and thrust of big-money art deals may not be for everyone, but the book is rich in context in explaining how multi-millions change hands in this rather oblique world. It also offers an insider’s view into the secretive world of Banksy himself.
The book is subtitled: A Tale of Two Robins and Barton admits to using it to his advantage rumours that he may even be Banksy (whose first name, he reveals, is also Robin). The pair lock horns several times. Barton’s glee when Banksy declares the street works alone will define his legacy is tangible.
The failures are as entertaining as the successes. Both Art Buff and Spy Booth pass through and then crumble in Barton’s grasp. While Banksy remains anonymous, Barton declares his hand at the very end of the book: he is currently selling Banksy’s celebrated Shop ‘Til You Drop for an eye-popping £10m.
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Available at all good bookshops now.
All words by Den Browne, you can read more on his author profile here:
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exeter.one newsbite last confirmed 24 hours ago by Den Browne
