Banksy Painting Self-Destructs Immediately After Being Sold For $1.4 Million
Anton VaganovTASS via Getty ImagesA copy of Banksy’s “Girl With Balloon” mural on display.
Art fans at an auction house in the United Kingdom were left stunned after a Banksy painting self-destructed immediately after it was sold for $1.4 million.
A hidden shredder inside the painting’s frame went off shortly after the work was sold at Sotheby’s in London on Oct. 5. The work was pulled down through a shredding mechanism at the bottom of the frame and was promptly ripped into pieces.
This defiant act was reportedly orchestrated by the elusive artist Banksy. It appears as though the artist himself was present at the auction house, as he posted a photo to Instagram of the half-shredded painting with the caption, “Going, going, gone…”
The painting is a reproduction of one of the most iconic graffiti murals Banksy has ever produced. The original version of the image was spray painted onto a building in East London back in 2002. It was removed in 2014 after it had been covered up by boards for a number of years.
After the public witnessed the jaw-dropping demonstration, Banksy explained the stunt on social media. He wrote that he had secretly built the shredder in the painting a number of years ago in the event that it was put up for auction. When that day finally came, his elaborate stunt was realized, leaving auctioneers speechless.
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“It appears we just got Banksy-ed,” said Alex Branczik, head of contemporary European art at Sotheby’s. “We have not experienced this situation in the past where a painting spontaneously shredded, upon achieving a record for the artist. We are busily figuring out what this means in an auction context.”
Although it’s unclear how Sotheby’s will approach the situation, some believe that this painting will be worth even more now shredded than it was while still intact.
Artist Isaiah King said in the Los Angeles Times: “If he was a lesser artist, he would have destroyed the art’s value. But because it’s Banksy it will only be worth more now.”
