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Two Sotheby's employees will hold the Banksy work "Love Is in the Bin" on September 3, 2021, which was known before its self-destruction as "Girl With Balloon"
Photo: FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA / EPA
The Banksy painting "Girl with Balloon", which was shredded during an art auction, will be auctioned again. The London auction house Sotheby's is expecting proceeds of four to six million pounds (4.66 to 7 million euros) for "Love Is In The Bin", like the mysterious one, at the auction on October 14th British street artist named his work after it was partially destroyed.
A European collector bought the picture, which was originally called »Girl With Balloon«, in autumn 2018 for around 1.2 million euros. Immediately after the auction at Sotheby's, the lower part of the work was dismantled by a construction built into the frame. A day later, the artist himself confessed to the prank. The buyer decided to close the deal anyway - a highly profitable decision given the current increase in value.
Alex Branczik, Sotheby's's expert on contemporary art, explained that the artist had not destroyed the work of art with his act of destruction, but created a new one. The picture, cut to shreds, is "the ultimate Banksy work of art and a true icon of recent art history." In fact, however, it is still the same item that was on sale in 2018. Banksy himself did not edit "Girl With Balloon" before he had it legally declared a new work by the Pest Control organization and renamed it.
"Girl With Balloon" shows a girl reaching for a heart-shaped balloon.
It is one of the most famous Banksy works and has been reproduced numerous times since it first appeared on a wall in East London.
Before the auction, the work will be shown at a traveling exhibition in London, Hong Kong, Taipei and New York.
The true identity of its creator remains unknown to this day.
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