Banksy art self-destructs shortly after $1.4M sale
LONDON — Art prankster Banksy has struck again.
A work by the elusive street artist self-destructed in front of startled auction-goers on Friday, moments after being sold for 1.04 million pounds ($1.4 million US). In an Instagram post on Saturday, Banksy claimed the dramatic artistic payoff had been years in the making.
The spray-painted canvas Girl With Balloon went under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London, fetching more than three times its pre-sale estimate.
Then, as an alarm sounded, it ran through a shredder embedded in the frame, leaving half the canvas hanging from the bottom in strips.
A post on Banksy’s official Instagram account showed the moment — and the shocked reaction of those in the room — with the words “Going, going, gone.”
A video was later posted on the account, stating: “A few years ago I secretly built a shredder into a painting in case it was ever put up for auction.”
Banksy’s spokeswoman, Jo Brooks, confirmed that the post was genuine.
Sotheby’s — which had noted before the sale that the work’s ornate gilded frame was “an integral element of the artwork chosen by Banksy himself” — appeared as shocked as everyone else.
“It appears we just got Banksy-ed,” said Alex Branczik, head of contemporary European art at the auction house.
The auction house said it was “in discussion about next steps” with the buyer, whose identity was not disclosed. Some artmarket watchers say the work could be worth even more now.
“We have not experienced this situation in the past,” Branczik said. “We are busily figuring out what this means in an auction.”
Geneva-based artist Pierre Koukjian, who was at the auction, said the buyer was “very lucky” to own a now-historic piece. He called Banksy’s prank “a turning point in the history of contemporary and conceptual art.”
Koukjian, who has met Banksy, said he is sure he caught a glimpse of the artist at the sale.
Banksy is not the first artist to deconstruct his own work. After the Second World War, Germanborn artist Gustav Metzger pioneered “auto-destructive art,” creating paintings using acid that ate away the fabric beneath.
Banksy, who has never disclosed his full identity, began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England.