"Three years later, in the same room, 'The Girl with the Balloon,' she did not commit suicide. ' after 10 minutes of offers.
The half-ruined graffiti work of the British Banksy "The Balloon Girl", one of the most famous works of the street artist, whose self-destruction during its sale at auction in 2018 had caused a stir, sold today at Sotheby`s auction in London for almost 21,8 million euros, at a new record price for a work by the British artist and three times the highest estimated selling price.
The sale price of the work, which was renamed "Love is in the Bin", exceeded the one that caught the "Game Changer" last March, a Banksy work in honor of the nursing staff during the pandemic that was sold at auction. of Christies for € 19,5 million.
That money was given to the British state health system. In the same room three years ago, attendees shuddered when, seconds after the sale of The Girl with the Balloon, instead of 1.042.000 XNUMX, a document shredder hidden under the board destroyed half of the bottom showing a little girl holding a red heart shaped balloon.
At the end of happening, what was left of the board was just the balloon on a white background. "Some believe it was not cut. It was cut. "Some people believe that the auction house participated in it, it did not participate," the artist said on Instagram at the time. With this happening, which caused an earthquake in art circles, the mysterious street artist wanted to denounce the "commercialization" of the art market.
Sotheby`s then spoke of the most spectacular artistic happening of the 21st century, placing it in the "legacy of anti-systemic art that began with the Dada movement and Marcel Duchamp".
Prior to that auction, the graffiti "The Girl with the Balloon", painted in 2002 on a wall in south London, was considered a favorite of the British people. "When The Girl with the Balloon" self-destructed "in our showroom, Banksy caused a global sensation that has since become a cultural phenomenon," said Alex Branzik, head of Sotheby`s Contemporary and Modern Art. "During that memorable night, Banksy did not destroy so much of a piece of art by shredding it, but instead created one," he added. Since then, Banksy's works have reached record prices at auctions.