'We just got Banksy-ed': balloon girl painting self-destructs at sale

 

An employee walks with Banksy's "Girl and Balloon" 2009, at Bonhams auction house in London March 23, 2012. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/Files

LONDON (Reuters) - A painting by mysterious British artist Banksy shred itself into pieces at the moment it sold for more than 1 million pounds at a London auction on Friday.

 

Onlookers gasped and laughed after the bottom half of "Girl with Balloon", one of Banksy's best-known works, was sucked into a shredder hidden in its frame as the hammer fell, auction house Sotheby's said.

 

The 12-year-old painting had just been sold for 1,042,000 pounds ($1.37 million) - matching Banksy's all-time record.

"It appears we just got Banksy-ed," Alex Branczik, senior director and head of contemporary art, said in a statement on Sotheby's website.

 

Banksy himself posted an Instagram picture of shocked attendees watching the painting disintegrate, with the caption: "Going, going, gone..."

 

Sotheby's said this was "certainly" the first time a work of art started to shred itself after coming under the hammer.

Video footage showed two men taking the painting away shortly after the sale, bits of the image hanging down from the bottom of the frame in strips.

 

The auction house was not immediately available for comment on the whereabouts of the painting's remains, or how its value might have changed in light of its self-destruction.

 

Banksy, whose real identity is unknown, is known for sharply ironic outdoor graffiti with political themes, including at Israel's barrier at the West Bank and Disneyland where he painted a life-size figure of a Guantanamo Bay detainee.

 

Once a small-time graffiti artist from the English city of Bristol, Banksy's work has become hugely valuable.

 

($1 = 0.7621 pounds)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-06

 

Brilliant self promotion

24 minutes ago, hyku1147 said:

What moron would trade an old pair of socks for that moronic nonsense - yet alone $1.37 million? LOL

 

It was a nice picture and worth £5 of anybody's money.

58 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Banksy, whose real identity is unknown,

I take it that REUTERS do not have access to Google?

1 hour ago, hyku1147 said:

What moron would trade an old pair of socks for that moronic nonsense - yet alone pay $1.37 million? LOL

I agree with you. Only  if I could find a pair that matches 

as far as art is concern , aside from the artistic value, there is the investment value. It ascribes to the greater full theory. it might be foolish to pay for this art but as long as there is a greater fool that would pay more.

  I wonder if the shredded picture  is worth more now?

5 hours ago, hyku1147 said:

What moron would trade an old pair of socks for that moronic nonsense - yet alone pay $1.37 million? LOL

 

The sort of "moron" who had 1.37 million to spare and knows what the appreciation rates are on contemporary "collectable" artists.

 

The sort of "moron" who now owns something which has probably gone up by 50% overnight.

 

It has become a "sensation".

 

Oh look, 50% minimum increase:

 

Banksy artwork 'doubles in value' after being ... - The Independent

"The auction result will only propel this further and given the media attention this stunt has received, the lucky buyer would see a great return on the £1.02m they paid last night, this is now part of Art History in its shredded state and we'd estimate Banksy has added at a minimum 50% to it's value, possibly as high as being worth £2m+."

 

"LOL" indeed.

 

????????????

 

 

Edited October 6, 20187 yr by Enoon

Something not quite right here. In 2012 the "painting" had a red frame. But in another story I read that Banksy himself built the shredder into the frame. So did he get it back sometime between then and now to fit the device. And surely someone spending that sort of money would have examined the painting minutely to ascertain that it was genuine, and hopefully discovered the shredder and activation device. 

It’s a publicity stunt/performance art. Quite well done.

Sotheby’s were in on it. They let a man with a remote control detonator into the auction; they are required by insurance to inspect the work, so must have known the shredder (or something) was in the frame; they saved the piece for end of auction, despite it selling for much less than other pieces; they hung the piece on a wall instead of putting it on a tripod in front of bidders when it was under the hammer.

So Sotheby’s sold a piece and then helped destroy it. An insurance quandary if the buyer tries to put it back to them, and no doubt the reason we are seeing “news” about how the piece’s value has gone up after being destroyed. Sotheby’s and Banksy must have decided they were ready to take it on the chin. Perhaps the piece came directly from the artist to auction, in which case, an easy path to confirming who Banksy actually is. If not, who is the seller, and aren’t they pissed?


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Videos show that only half the painting went through the shredder, then they took it down off the wall The picture is probably worth £2M as it stands now. And if you Google BANKSY, it tells who is his wife, where he lives, and search a bit more, his real name. Clever bloke though getting through all those international borders with his paints etc., and doing 'masterpieces' in the dark, overnight. 

Edited October 7, 20187 yr by wgdanson

Even more intriguing after reading on BBC News site, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-40717821, it shows the picture with a PINK background, and the shredded one has a WHITE one. How did they remove a stencilled painting, off a wall.

Banksy, an anonymous street artist from Bristol, painted the Balloon Girl onto the wall of a printing shop in Shoreditch in 2002.

A decade later a version of the image, painted onto cardboard, sold at auction for £73,250.

Then in 2014 the original stencil mural was removed from the wall of the shop to be exhibited and then sold.

 

 

Edited October 7, 20187 yr by wgdanson

13 hours ago, hyku1147 said:

What moron would trade an old pair of socks for that moronic nonsense - yet alone pay $1.37 million? LOL

Obviously you have never seen a Banksy work of art

Videos show that only half the painting went through the shredder, then they took it down off the wall The picture is probably worth £2M as it stands now. And if you Google BANKSY, it tells who is his wife, where he lives, and search a bit more, his real name. Clever bloke though getting through all those international borders with his paints etc., and doing 'masterpieces' in the dark, overnight. 

You would need to look at the Sotheby’s catalog to see the claimed provenance of the shredded piece, he may have put out multiple versions of the work.

It was a great stunt; performance art is mostly garbage, but Banksy’s works are enjoyable, surprising and relevant.

The lawyer inside of me is dying to know what is happening with the buyer, the seller, Sotheby’s and the insurer. Talk of 2mn should be Sotheby’s covering their a**. No one knows what the shredded piece is worth, until it goes on market. If Banksy were to do a further installation around the shredded balloon girl, it could fetch quite a bit.




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They should make all graffiti self destructing.

With the exception of dead black panther stuff.

 

This just proves my point about what I have suspected about most art. It is for stupid people who have got more money than sense. I always remember that saying. A fool and his money are soon seperated.!!!

What moron pays 1,000,000 quid for a painting. 

What moron pays 1,000,000 quid for a painting. 

People who have made enough money or achieved what they want in life usually start to focus on power, fame and/or their legacy. A recognized art collection can serve each of those ends.

One of the many nasty things the NY charity circuit has to say about Trump - “The only thing he collects is ex-wives”


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