$1.4M JUST VANISHES
Banky’s art sells & self destructs
Banksy burst his own “Balloon” — just after an unknown buyer ponied up seven figures to buy it.
A work of art by the elusive street artist selfdestructed seconds after it was sold at auction in London Friday.
The artwork — a spraypainted canvas entitled “Girl With Balloon” — fetched $1.4 million just before the painting slid through a shredder and out of the bottom of its frame in fine strips.
The high bid matched an earlier record for the artist.
Banksy's Instagram account featured a video from the auction house scene with a quote from Picasso reading “The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.”
He explained in the video that he had secretly built a shredder into the painting's frame “in case it was ever put up for auction."
The video shows stunned viewers with mouths agape as the stunt is executed.
The artist — whose true identity has never been revealed — earned himself some new fans after the gavel went down.
“Never been a big Banksy fan, but this, this was genuis,” said Twitter user Trent Reinsmith.
“I'm generally not a fan of Banksy. Nothing about much of what he does strikes me as necessarily witty or original. But this is hilarious,” Greg Sharp said. @GregSharp.
Banksy loyalists were also impressed.
“This is my favorite thing he's ever done. I like it more than any of the pieces,” said Evangeline Provost.
Banksy is known for a body of work that has criticized anti-migrant attitudes and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Sotheby's senior director and head of contemporary art Alex Branczik conceded the artist had successfully pranked the auction house — and the art world.
“It appears we just got Banksey-ed,” he said.
It's unclear who the buyer is and whether they'll take home the shredded at work.
Branczik claimed to have no prior knowledge of the daring stunt.
He praised Banksy calling him “arguably the greatest British street artist” and saying “tonight we saw a little piece of Banksy genius,” according to The Art Newspaper.
The image of a child reaching up to a balloon is a replica of a work that was first stenciled on a wall in east London.
Sotheby's said it is working to determine “next steps” regarding the artwork.
“We are busily figuring out what this means in an auction context,” Branczik said.
Some experts speculated that the artwork's value would increase exponentially following the ruse.
The buyer apparently had no advance knowledge of the stunt either.
“We have talked with the successful purchase who was surprised by the story,” Sotheby's said in a statement.