Banksy’s Painting Self-Destructs After Auction Sale For $1.1 Million

Banksy’s one of most recognisable “Girl with Balloon” painting self-destructed, moments after it sold at auction for $1.1 million.

Record-setting bid of $1.1 Million

According to reports, a copy of Banksy’s iconic “Girl with Balloon” painting was auctioned at Sotheby’s in London on Friday. The authorities, as the auction began, announced a record-setting bid of $1.1 million immediately. Further, an alarm triggered inside the frame and thus began the shredding. The painting, in no time, shredded into pieces.

Banksy

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Going, going, gone...

A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Oct 5, 2018 at 6:45pm PDT

Shredded by a mechanism hidden within the frame

According to the Financial Times, the framed work, which was acquired by the auction house in 2006, "was shredded by a mechanism apparently hidden within the base of the frame, with most of the work emerging from the bottom in strips."

“It appears we just got Banksy-ed,” said Alex Branczik, head of contemporary art, Europe.

“We are busy figuring out what this means in an auction context. The shredding is now part of the integral artwork," he said. He added that they have never experienced such a situation earlier. Branczik also admitted that people at Sotheby were not aware of the amusing stunt beforehand.

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Artist Banksy destroys his own painting after selling for over $1 million dollars with shredder built into the frame #banksy #girlwithballoon #sothebys #contemporartauction #eveningauction #shreddedpaintings #london @sothebys @banksy

A post shared by Casterline | Goodman Gallery (@casterlinegoodmangallery) on Oct 5, 2018 at 1:14pm PDT

Girl With Balloon was the final item in an auction at Sotheby’s in London and its sale price equalled the artist’s previous auction record. With this act, Banksy has played one of the most unflinching pranks in art history as one of his best-known works self-destructed after being sold at an insanely high price.

In June, the anonymous street art icon had revealed that he had submitted a piece of art to the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition. The piece, he admitted, was subsequently rejected. There has never been an official revelation on the true identity of the artist despite several wide speculations.

Photo credit: Consequence Of Sound

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