Exhibited in the Great Historical Painting Wing at the Brooklyn Museum, New York, in March 2005, Soldier with Spraycan exemplifies Banksy’s technique of reworking classical oil paintings with contemporary subversions.

The portrait of an 18th-century military officer, painted in the grand manner of traditional European portraiture, is disrupted by the addition of a spray can in his hand. Behind him, graffiti tags such as “NO WAR” and the peace symbol transform the stately backdrop into a wall of protest.

The piece cleverly undermines the authority and symbolism of military power, contrasting the pomp of aristocratic portraiture with the immediacy of street protest. In doing so, Banksy critiques both the glorification of war in art history and the persistence of conflict in modern times.