A rare piece of artwork from notorious street artist Banksy went up for auction Saturday night — only to self-destruct moments after it was sold.
A copy of one of Banksy’s better-known works, Girl With Balloon, was auctioned at Sotheby’s in London, garnering a record-setting bid of $1.4 million. Once the bidding had come to a close on the iconic piece, the artwork started to sound an alarm and was subsequently destroyed by a shredder hidden within the frame. Staff proceeded to rush the artwork out of the room before it could be fully shredded.
Sharing a photo of the moment on Instagram, Banksy accompanied it with the caption ‘going, going, gone’ which couldn’t be more accurate!
Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s senior director and head of contemporary art in Europe, was taken aback but not surprised by the twist admitting ‘it appears we just got Banksy-ed’.
He told The Art Newspaper:
He is arguably the greatest British street artist, and tonight we saw a little piece of Banksy genius.
The shredding is now part of the integral artwork. We have not experienced a situation where a painting has spontaneously shredded, upon achieving a record for the artist.
The auction house said it was “in discussion about next steps” with the buyer. Some art-market watchers have suggested the work could be worth even more in its shredded state.
The post A Banksy’s Painting Self Destructed After Selling for $1.1 million in Auction appeared first on Caveman Circus.