Bansky’s partially-shredded painting set to go back on sale
Acanvas by British artist Banksy, which was partially shredded moments after selling at an auction in 2018, will go back under the hammer next month, London-based auction house Sotheby’s said on Friday.
The artwork, now called Love is in the Bin, will go on sale on October 14, with an estimated selling price of around £4-6 million.
The painting, originally known as Girl with Balloon, sold for nearly
£1.1 million at the same location in October 2018, and is now being resold by the unnamed collector who purchased it.
The canvas unexpectedly passed through a shredder hidden in the large Victorian-style frame, moments after bidding ended, partially destroying it and stunning the art world. The prank is believed to have been orchestrated by Banksy, whose identity is said to be known to only a handful of friends.
“That surreal evening three years ago, I became the accidental, but very privileged, owner of Love is in the Bin,” the collector said in a statement, adding, “It has been an incredible journey to have been part of the story of how one of the most famous artworks in the world came to be, but now it is time to let the painting go.”
The part-shredded canvas, exhibited for a month at a museum in Germany in 2019, depicts a small child reaching towards a heart-shaped red balloon. It was originally stencilled on a wall in East London and has been endlessly reproduced, becoming one of Banksy’s best-known images.
The painting will go on public display at Sotheby’s in London for two days, before embarking on a global tour to Hong Kong, Taipei and New York, ahead of returning to the British capital.
The shredding was the latest in a long history of unpredictable moves by the street artist, who rose to fame for his stencilled graffiti pieces, often highly satirical, on buildings in Britain and worldwide. His latest works have appeared recently in several British seaside towns.
THE ARTWORK, LOVE IS IN THE BIN, UNEXPECTEDLY PASSED THROUGH A SHREDDER HIDDEN IN THE VICTORIAN-STYLE FRAME, MOMENTS AFTER BIDDING HAD ENDED