JUST INSHREDIBLE
£1m Banksy that went through shredder up for sale again... at £6m
MOST works of art lose value if they’re damaged. But not, it seems, when they are by Banksy.
The street artist’s Girl With Balloon, which famously started shredding itself seconds after being auctioned for £1.1million, is going back on sale – with an astonishing estimated price of between £4million and £6million.
The work, depicting a young girl with a red heart-shaped balloon on a string, was originally stencilled on a wall in East London by the painter, who carefully guards his identity.
In 2018 it was sold at Sotheby’s in London but bidders and auctioneers were stunned when moments after the hammer fell the canvas began passing through a secret shredder hidden in the large Victorian-style frame.
It left the bottom half of the picture in tatters and only the solitary balloon on a white background within the frame.
Now retitled Love Is In The Bin, it will be part of another Sotheby’s auction on October 14.
The current owner said: ‘That surreal evening three years ago, I became the accidental – but very privileged – owner of Love Is In
‘One shocking moment’
The Bin. It has been incredible 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.’
Auctioneeer Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said: ‘Auctions are live theatre, and as with any live production we need to prepare for all eventualities, but we were “Banksy-ed”, and you can never prepare yourself for that.
‘Banksy is the ultimate art world outlaw, and in one exhilarating and shocking moment, Sotheby’s became the unwitting stage for his audacious piece of performance art. We are looking forward to welcoming Love Is In The Bin back to the very rooms where it was created this autumn.’
Girl With Balloon has been endlessly reproduced since it was created, becoming one of the bestknown images by Banksy, who rose to prominence through a series of graffiti pieces that appeared on buildings across the country, many marked by their satirical themes.