If you think an international match in the World Cup qualifier is exciting, then it is nothing against the thrilling bid duel that Sotheby's auctioneer Oliver Barker offered on Thursday night. During a ten-minute long bid between nine different bidders for Banksy's Love is in the Bin, the hammer fell to a record-setting £18.6 million (including auction house fees), equivalent to $25.5 million.
The original painting was sold exactly three years ago, then with the title Girl With Balloon, for the then record price for the artist of £1.04 million (triple its estimate) The moment the hammer fell, the painting began to shred, leaving just the red, heart-shaped balloon in tact.
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The buyer was a European collector, and the question now was whether she still wanted to keep her prize, after it was "damaged." After the auction and all the Instagram posts, the legal work began. Was the painting that the art collector bought the same painting that Sotheby's had presented just a few minutes earlier?
You can hear more about this on Barneby's podcast Eye of the Beholder where I interview Alex Branczik, Sotheby's head of contemporary art in Asia.
Meanwhile, the artist himself posted a video on his Instagram account, which incidentally doubled in followers overnight, where he showed how he staged one of art history's most cheeky art coups, as well as renaming the shredded painting to Love is in the Bin.
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The bidder accepted their purchase of the half-shredded painting and then it was exhibited at Sotheby's again for public viewing before going up on the wall at home in the collector's bedroom. The lines to see the work were long despite persistent rain, and art lovers traveled from all corners of the globe to view the masterpiece by one of the world's most acclaimed contemporary artists.
From March 2019 to February 2020, Love is in the Bin was lent to the art museum Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Before it was auctioned off, it was shown again at Sotheby's in London. A few days ago I was on site while they hung up the now iconic painting at Sotheby's where it was shown a room of its own and estimated at £4-6 million.
There was no doubt that Alex Barnczik and Sotheby's had high expectations before the sale. But no one thought that the final price, including commission, would land at as much as $25 million.
The big question everyone is asking themselves now is how Banksy can outdo himself by eluding the art world again.
