The hype surrounding the British street artist has reached a new dimension.
The half-shredded Banksy work “Love is in the Bin” went under the hammer at the London auction house Sotheby’s on Thursday for a record sum: 16 million British pounds! The equivalent of 18.9 million euros!
Three years ago Sotheby’s auctioned the picture for a million pounds (around 1.2 million euros). A few seconds after the hammer fell, beeping noises could be heard – and a shredder built into the frame began to partially destroy the work.
Shortly thereafter, Banksy confessed to the action and described it as a criticism of the art market. He named the newly created work “Love is in the Bin”.
The work “Love is in the Bin” before the auctionPhoto: Dominic Lipinski / AP
The estimated price before the auction was four to six million pounds (just under five to seven million euros). The buyer now pays almost 18.6 million pounds including fees (the equivalent of around 21.9 million euros) for the shredder plant. Who the new owner is has not yet been announced.
The picture from 2006 is one of Banksy’s most famous motifs. It shows a girl reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon. Before it was shredded, it was called “Girl with Balloon”.
On Friday, Christie’s auction house in London is auctioning another version of the motif.