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"Love is in the Bin": The estimated value of six million pounds was well below the sales price
Photo:
TOM NICHOLSON / REUTERS
A good three years after its partial destruction, the half-shredded Banksy work "Love is in the Bin" was auctioned for 16 million pounds plus fees.
That corresponds to almost 19 million euros.
The picture thus achieved significantly more than the estimated price of up to six million pounds on Thursday evening at Sotheby's in London.
The new owner of the plant was initially not announced.
A European collector bought the picture, one of the most famous Banksy motifs called »Girl with Balloon«, in October 2018 for around 1.1 million pounds.
Immediately afterwards there were beeping noises and the picture rushed down through the thick, ornate gold frame.
A shredder hidden there cut the lower part of the picture into strips.
Banksy, whose identity is unknown, described the surprising action as a criticism of the art market and renamed the work "Love is in the Bin".
Many other works of contemporary art went under the hammer at the auction on Thursday evening.
Three abstract paintings by Gerhard Richter should bring in several million pounds each.
Works by Joseph Beuys, Jörg Immendorf and Georg Baselitz were also up for auction.
ime / dpa / AFP