Banksy book of $ 1.3 million "autodestruit" auction

Banksy's work is "self-destroyed" at a Sotheby's auction on Friday night in London.

"Girl with a Balloon" (2006) was the last batch of the evening sale at Sotheby's and closed with an impressive final price of £ 953,829 ($ 1,251,423), or £ 1,042,000 with buyer's premium ($ 1,367,104). Perhaps people should have suspected that something was suspicious when the artwork was selling at exactly the same figure as the auction artist's previous record in 2008.

Robert Casterline of the Casterline Goodman gallery was present and told Hyperallergic what happened next. He explained that there was "total confusion" and that an "alarm inside the frame began to ring when the hammer stopped".

"[It] sold for over a million dollars and while we were sitting … the painting started to move, "he said, adding that the frame of the painting, also manufactured by Banksy, served as a shredder and was starting to cut the web in strips. "[It was] any confusion, then complete excitement, "he explained.

Anny Shaw from Art Newspaper spoke with Alex Branczik, head of the European auction for the auction house, who seemed as surprised as anyone. "It looks like we just got Banksy-ed," he said immediately after the sale. "He is arguably the greatest British street artist, and tonight we saw a little Banksy genius," he said, adding that he was "not the kind to the smart".

Shaw also reports that there was speculation that "the elusive artist had himself pressed the button that destroyed the work."

But is the work destroyed? Or is it transformed? Even Branczik is not sure. "You could argue that work is now more valuable," Branczik said. "This is certainly the first coin to be shredded spontaneously at the end of an auction."

Casterline clearly thought that it was all very amusing. "Banksy has still made the art market that he despises so much," he said about the latest joke of an artist who continues to screw up the conventions of the world of art. # 39; s.

Sotheby's issued a statement to the Financial Times: "We spoke with the successful buyer who was surprised by the story. We discuss next steps. "