Banksy's shredded artwork resold for over $30M Cdn
CBC
A work by British street artist Banksy that sensationally self-shredded just after it sold at auction three years ago fetched 18.5 million pounds (roughly $31.6 million Cdn) on Thursday — a record for the artist, and close to 20 times its pre-shredded price.
Love is in the Bin was offered by Sotheby's in London, with a presale estimate of 4 million pounds to 6 million pounds ($6.8 million to $10.2 million Cdn).
After a 10-minute bidding war involving nine bidders in the saleroom and more online and by phone, it sold for three times the high estimate.
The piece consists of a half-shredded canvas in an ornate frame bearing a spray-painted image of a girl reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon.
When it last sold at Sotheby's in October 2018, the piece was known as Girl With Balloon. Just as an anonymous European buyer made the winning bid of 1 million pounds ($1.7 million Cdn), a hidden shredder embedded in the frame by Banksy whirred to life, leaving half the canvas hanging from the frame in strips.
The work quickly became one of Banksy's most famous, and Sotheby's sent it on tour to cities including New York and Hong Kong before Thursday's auction.
Sotheby's received some criticism at the time for failing to spot the hidden shredder. But the 2018 buyer decided to go through with the purchase, a decision that was vindicated on Thursday as the work's price soared.
