The iconic Banksy picture that self-destructed in Sotheby's returns to auction

Three years after the spectacular moment when a picture of Banksy was self-destructed after auctioned by more than one million euros, the iconic work will retur

The iconic Banksy picture that self-destructed in Sotheby's returns to auction

Three years after the spectacular moment when a picture of Banksy was self-destructed after auctioned by more than one million euros, the iconic work will return to the same London room where he made history to look for a new owner.

The work will be exhibited to the public this weekend at the Sotheby's auction house, in the heart of London, where it will go on sale on October 14 after embarking on a tour of Hong Kong, Taipei and New York.

Sotheby's did not know, but on that night of October 5, 2018, it was going to become involuntarily in the scene of an unprecedented artistic intervention that attracted looks from all latitudes.

Seconds after hammer stroke, a beep from the bottom of the room where the newly auctioned Banksy picture hung, Girl with Balloon (girl with a balloon), silenced the public.

"It was not a usual alarm in Sotheby's, we were not familiar with the sound, and we were wondering: 'What is happening'", it recalls Efe Emma Baker, Head of Sales in the Auction House, who remembers that moment as something " Very dramatic ".

"We turned around and saw that the canvas had slipped through the frame, through a hidden crusher, and we were completely perplexed, everyone was in shock," he describes on a scene that ended with two technicians withdrawing the painting hurriedly.

Those present had just attended the Metamorphosis of Girl with Balloon, sold by a million pounds (about 1.2 million euros / 1.4 million dollars) and revalued instantly by becoming a new, medium torn and more Media if it fits, entitled Love is in the bin (love is on the trash).

The new owner of the painting took a few days to "process him" because he was "like everyone", in Shock, Baker admits, but he finally decided to stay the work, which already had "innumerable" bidders willing to buy it in case that It will be auctioned again.

"It has been an incredible journey to be part of the history of which it has become one of the most well-known works of art in the world, but now it is time to let it go," says the owner of the painting, without revealing his identity, in A Sotheby's statement.

After three years of exhibitions in several international museums, love is in the bin returns to the auction house where it was born to sell this time with an exit price between 4 and 6 million pounds (4.7 million euros / 5 , 5 million dollars), a record for a banksy.

It is an "attractive" sum, in Baker's view, taking into account that the last auctioned work of the artist was sold for 17 million pounds (19.8 million euros / 23.5 million dollars).

Perhaps the picture would not have this "cultural cache" if it had been torn completely, just as Banksy had planned, "said he revealed it in his Instagram -, but his machination failed and that turned the painting into something" much more special " , Ensures the expert.

Asked for another possible "scare" in the new auction, Baker says laughing that expects no "more surprises": "This time we have been working closely with Pest Control [Official Banksys Verification Body] and are very transparent, but we cross The fingers so that nothing happens. "

Date Of Update: 04 September 2021, 14:31