Banksy’s ‘Girl with Balloon’ will be auctioned yet again, just three years after the street artist shocked bidders mid-auction when the artwork partially shredded itself at Sotheby’s in London.
The famous piece known as ‘Love is in the Bin’ is going on display at the same London auction house ahead of its sale on October 14 following a tour that will take it to Hong Kong, Taipei, and New York.
Was the Banksy shredding real?
On October 5, 2018, Sotheby’s was unaware of the stunt Banksy had in-store. After the gavel dropped, an alarm rang out as a shredder activated in the lower portion of the Victorian-style frame, pulling the painting roughly halfway through and completely destroying the original piece. Members of the audience looked on aghast and footage of the event went viral worldwide, those present witnessed a new artwork created in front of their eyes.
“People had their hands over their mouths and phones were out filming what was happening. Quickly we had the technicians come to take it off the wall. It was really dramatic, completely dramatic.”
It took the new owner of the Banksy work a few days to get over the shock of what took place at the auction, said Emma Baker, a contemporary art specialist at Sotheby’s in London. . But the buyer, a female art collector from Europe, went ahead with the purchase.
In a statement not long after the original auction, she said in a statement to Sotheby’s: “When the hammer came down last week and the work was shredded, I was first shocked, but gradually I began to realize that I would end up with my own piece of art history.”
How much is the Banksy shredded painting worth?
The art piece sold for 1 million pounds or $1.4 million dollars, but the work suddenly took on new value after the stunt. ‘Love is in the Bin’ could sell for even five times its original price. The new work, verified by Banksy’s authentication body Pest Control, is expected to fetch between 4 to 6 million pounds this time around.
“I hope there are not going to be any more surprises,” Baker says.
With text and images from EFE
