Remember back in 2018 when Banksy's painting "Love is in the Bin" (aka "The Girl and Balloon") shredded itself at a Sotheby's live auction right after it sold to an unidentified bidder for more than £1 million? (Video of the shenaginans below.) Next month, the partially shredded artwork will go on the auction block again but this time the estimated selling price is £6 million! From CNN:
Banksy's rebellious cachet has come into question, since it is Sotheby's that ultimately benefited from the chaos around the sale. The auction house maintains that its staff had no idea of what the artist had planned, with a spokesperson telling CNN over email: "We had no prior knowledge of this event and were not in any way involved." But Israel, like many others, has his suspicions.
"I still think there is more to the story," he said. "It's unclear how (Sotheby's) would possibly not have noticed that the shredder was embedded in the frame. Some have commented that the unusual weight of the frame would have undeniably raised concerns, for one. And what does Sotheby's professed ignorance say about how they inspect the condition of other artworks that people bid on and purchase?"
The identity of the winning bidder remains a mystery as well, though Sotheby's has described the buyer as a female collector from Europe and a long-standing client of the auction house.
image (top): Sotheby's
