 |
| Banksy’s painting “Girl with Red Balloon” is seen shredded after its sale at Sotheby auction in London, in this still image taken from a video obtained from social media |
The woman who bid more than 1 million pounds for a painting by the mysterious British artist Banksy which shred itself into pieces at the moment of the sale has gone ahead with the purchase, auction house Sothebyโs said on Thursday.
Onlookers gasped and laughed after the bottom half of โGirl with Balloonโ, one of Banksyโs best-known works, was sucked into a shredder hidden in its frame as the hammer fell last Friday after a bid of 1,042,000 pounds ($1.38 million) โ matching Banksyโs all-time record.
โWhen the hammer came down last week and the work was shredded, I was at first shocked, but gradually I began to realise that I would end up with my own piece of art history,โ the buyer, an unnamed female European collector, said according to Sothebyโs.
The auction house said the artwork had been granted a certificate by Banksyโs authentication body and has given a new title, โLove is in the Binโ.
โBanksy didnโt destroy an artwork in the auction, he created one,โ said Alex Branczik, Sothebyโs Head of Contemporary Art, Europe.
Banksy himself posted an Instagram picture of shocked attendees watching the painting disintegrate last week, with the caption: โGoing, going, goneโฆโ
The artist, whose real identity is unknown, is known for sharply ironic outdoor graffiti with political themes, including at Israelโs barrier at the West Bank and Disneyland where he painted a life-size figure of a Guantanamo Bay detainee.
