Historic auction for a half-destroyed work.
Banksy's version of “The Balloon Girl”, whose partial self-destruction three years ago caused a sensation, was sold Thursday for nearly 18.6 million pounds (21.8 million euros), a new record for the British artist.
#AuctionUpdate: Banksy's #LoveisintheBin sells for £ 18,582,000, breaking an #auctionrecord for the artist at its return to Sotheby's New Bond St almost exactly 3 years since the work shredded in this very location in an unexpected piece of performance art.
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- Sotheby's (@Sothebys) October 14, 2021
Renamed "Love is in the Bin" ("Love is in the Bin"), the work sold at Sotheby's in London exceeds the previous record reached last March by "Game Changer", a canvas honoring caregivers during the Covid-19 pandemic, sold for 16.75 million pounds (19.5 million euros) for the benefit of the British public health service.
The first estimates pulverized
Very soon after the sale began, "a time that we are all waiting," said auctioneer Oliver Barber, the bids swirled until they pulverized the price of 1.042 million pounds (1.185 million euros) at which the painting had been sold to a European collector in 2018.
Prior to Thursday's sale, Sotheby's estimated the work to be between £ 4 million and £ 6 million (between € 4.6 and 7 million).
Its last appearance at an auction in October 2018 had caused amazement around the world.
No sooner had the hammer sounded when a crusher hidden in the frame had torn to shreds the lower half of the canvas, which depicts a little girl releasing a red heart-shaped balloon, leaving only the balloon intact. White background.
It was "one of the most ingenious moments of artistic performance of this century", which had "made this auction go down in history", underlined Alex Branczik, head of modern art and contemporary at Sotheby's Asia, in a press release Thursday evening.
Britain's favorite work of art
With this resounding action, which had caused a real earthquake in the art world, the street artist aimed to denounce the “commodification” of art.
But since this coup, Banksy has panicked auctions, where his works are reaching records.
“During this surrealist evening three years ago, I accidentally became the privileged owner of Love is in the trash,” recalled the buyer, quoted in the Sotheby's press release announcing the sale, “but it is now is the time to part with it ”.
Read alsoNew works by Banksy appeared in England
Even before this global notoriety, "La Fille au Ballon", which first appeared in 2002 as a stenciled graffiti on a wall on the south bank of London, had already been named as the favorite work of art. of the British.
On Friday, a diptych version of “La Fille au Ballon” will be auctioned, also in the British capital, this time at Christie's.
Produced in 2005, the canvas in two parts is estimated between 2.5 and 3.5 million pounds sterling (between 2.9 and 4.1 million euros).
