Banksy – Love is in the Bin 2018
Just when you thought it was safe to come out of the shredder the sale of Banksy’s Girl with Balloon was confirmed by Sotheby’s with the new title Love is in the Bin.
“Banksy didn’t destroy an artwork in the auction, he created one. Following his surprise intervention on the night, we are pleased to confirm the sale of the artist’s newly-titled Love is in the Bin, the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction.” said Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s Head of Contemporary Art, Europe.
The buyer, a female European collector, commented: “When 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”. She has confirmed her decision to acquire the new work at the same price of £860,000 at hammer and a final sale price of £1,042,000 with Sotheby’s commission.
Banksy has a history with pranking art establishments, having previously pulled stunts in the Louvre, Tate Britain, the British Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum.
(See post and video on antiquesandartireland.com for October 7, 2018)