Gauntlet Gallery — Banksy Prints
Weston Super Mare (Lime Green Artist Proof)
Work Summary & Collector Notes
A wide, sparse seaside scene rendered in Banksy's signature greyscale stencil over flat lime-green: a lone elderly woman with a walking cane sits on a park bench staring out at a wind-bent palm tree on a desolate green promenade. Produced for the 2004 "Weston-Super-Mare" series, it is one of Banksy's quietly melancholic takes on the faded English seaside town near his Bristol home, far removed from his louder protest imagery.
Collector notes: Edition; saved release record states an edition size of 35. Edition-specific signature, numbering, and stamp details were not stated in the saved release record. Verify signing and numbering against a documented example of this edition.
Why It Matters
The print captures Banksy turning his stencil vocabulary on something gentler and more personal than riot police or rats: the slow decline of a working-class British resort, and the loneliness of an old woman left behind by it. The bleak emptiness, the storm-blown palm, and the single seated figure read as a quiet social commentary on neglect, ageing, and the hollowing-out of seaside England, contrasting the postcard cliche of the palm tree with a bleak, windswept reality. It is a key example of Banksy's mid-2000s output, when his Bristol/West Country roots fed work that was observational and wry rather than overtly confrontational.
Collector Perspective
This is the lime green Artist Proof from a screen-print edition of only 35, making it markedly scarcer than Banksy's larger signed editions of 150 or 750. As a low-edition, period piece rather than an iconic image like Girl with Balloon, demand is real but thinner; condition (the cream paper shows easily) and verifiable provenance will drive value more than the image alone.
Historical Context
"Weston-Super-Mare" references the tired Somerset seaside town a short distance from Banksy's native Bristol, the same coastal stretch he would later commandeer in 2015 for his Dismaland "bemusement park" at the town's derelict Tropicana lido. Made in 2004, during Banksy's prolific Stencil Boom period and the era of Pictures on Walls print releases, the work belongs to a run depicting the resort with deadpan affection, here a marooned palm tree and a solitary pensioner standing in for the faded promise of the great British holiday.
Documented Release Details
- Object type
- Editioned screenprint
- Release date
- 2004
- Release-date note
- Catalog-listed release year from the saved secondary record; primary release-page confirmation remains pending.
- Medium and materials
- Screen Print.
- Edition details
- Edition; saved release record states an edition size of 35.
- Signature and marks
- Edition-specific signature, numbering, and stamp details were not stated in the saved release record. Verify signing and numbering against a documented example of this edition.
Documented History and Meaning
History note: This page treats Banksy's broader career as background context, not proof that this specific edition belongs to any single exhibition or event. Release-level facts here come from a saved secondary catalog record.
Meaning / interpretation: Read as documented context rather than stated intent: "Weston-Super-Mare" references the tired Somerset seaside town a short distance from Banksy's native Bristol, the same coastal stretch he would later commandeer in 2015 for his Dismaland "bemusement park" at the town's derelict Tropicana lido. This is an interpretive reading of the release context, not a statement of the artist's intent for this specific work. This interpretive note follows the cited artist or publisher context.
Release context: The saved catalog lists 2004.
Authentication, Presentation and Provenance
- Original presentation
- Original packaging or presentation was not documented in the release sources reviewed.
- Authentication note
- Compare the support, dimensions, edition number, and signature against a documented example of this edition. Gauntlet Gallery does not authenticate works purchased from third parties.
- Provenance note
- Edition origin is attributed in the saved record to the release source named in the saved record. That does not establish the ownership history of an individual copy: retain the original invoice, reseller or gallery paperwork, labels, correspondence, and condition photographs.
Sources and Verification
Verification status: Secondary catalog snapshot; artist-level context added
- Banksy — Wikipedia · reference encyclopedia · Accessed 2026-07-13 · General artist-level biographical and career reference.
- Banksy (Q133600) — Wikidata · reference knowledge base · Accessed 2026-07-13 · Structured identifier used for the artist across catalog metadata.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
An elderly woman seated alone with a walking cane on a green park bench, looking out across an empty promenade toward a wind-bent palm tree, all rendered in Banksy's greyscale stencil style over a flat lime-green ground. It evokes a quiet, faded English seaside scene.
How large is the edition?
The edition size is 35. This particular example is the lime green Artist Proof, which sits outside the numbered run and is generally considered scarcer.
Is it signed?
Always verify before purchase.
What medium is it?
It is a screen print (silkscreen) on paper, produced in 2004 in the lime green colourway.
Who is Banksy?
Banksy is an anonymous England-based street artist who emerged from the Bristol scene in the early 1990s, known for fast stencil work, dark humour, and anti-establishment imagery, with many prints published through Pictures on Walls.
Related Banksy Works
