Banksy might have just carried out the *greatest ever* troll of the art world at a Sotheby's auction when his painting seemed to self-destruct moments after it sold for $1.4 million.
$1,300,000 BANKSY artwork piece just “self-destructed” right after it was sold at Sotheby’s auction!🤯😳 (An alarm sound went off and the frame began to shred the art piece.)🚨 https://t.co/TAsrE9ptIh
“It appears we just got Banksy-ed,” Alex Branczik, Sotheby's head of contemporary art for Europe, told shocked onlookers.
This human is a GENIUS. $1.3M Banksy Artwork “Self-Destructs” right after it’s sold at Auction. https://t.co/9KAmZoJu95 https://t.co/Wmq1lvU3BM
Banksy, who chooses to remain anonymous, posted a photo of the shredding moment on Instagram.
About 12 hours later, Banksy posted an edited Instagram video showing the incident, with the quote: “‘The urge to destroy is also a creative urge’ —Picasso.”
“A few years ago I secretly built a shredder into a painting in case it was ever put up for auction,” reads the video.
It then shows the auction and the moment that the painting started being shredded. At first only one woman seems to notice what’s happening.
Then two men come — presumably art handlers at Sotheby’s — and remove the painting while the shredder continues to cut it up.
Needless to say, people absolutely loved it.
@MichaelSurtees I like to think that this is because Banksy's artwork is meant to be seen, and experienced, not owned. I may be wrong but I love this. ❤ Best thing I've seen on twitter all day.
They said it was the enigmatic street artist’s way of telling the world that his work “isn’t meant to be owned”.
@DanFleyshman #Banksy was clearly making a statement about anyone who thinks you can actually own his art. He’s essentially saying art is free and isn’t meant to be owned...also would you really expect anything less...IT’S BANKSY!!! 🤦🏽♀️
And that Banksy is probably the only person who could pull this off.
It must be a lot of fun being Banksy. Making a (theatrical) point about art that no one else in art can make. https://t.co/LcaY42Z9uy
Some questioned whether it had actually been shredded at all.
So, I have a theory about that Banksy shredded girl w/the red balloon: It's not shredded. It's still rolled up inside the frame. A pre-torn canvas rolled out from behind the one in front that is rolled up behind itself. The torn canvas doesn't line up w/the one in front: https://t.co/fuyCaxAcMj
There is speculation that the stunt could have made the painting more valuable.
“However, there was speculation after the Banksy sale as to whether the shredded painting would have risen in value, given its status as the subject of one of the greatest pranks to have been played on the art market.” https://t.co/4dR5P67zVt https://t.co/3YBcBBeLl7
“We have not experienced this situation in the past ... where a painting spontaneously shredded, upon achieving a [near] record for the artist. We are busily figuring out what this means in an auction context,” Branczik said.
Sotheby’s said in a statement that the purchaser was “surprised” by the incident, and that the next steps are being discussed.
It had originally been expected to sell for between £200,000 and £300,000 ($260,000 and $390,000).
In any case, others concluded, Banksy can continue to hold the well-earned title of “world's smuggest man”.
Anyone who says ‘classic Banksy’ or ‘epic’ or anything that isn’t ‘world’s smuggest man continues to have cake and eat it’ can leave my timeline $1.3M Banksy Artwork “Self-Destructs” at Auction https://t.co/o36LAJqOEq
CORRECTION
The Banksy work sold for almost $1.4 million when factoring in the buyer's premium. An earlier version of this post said it sold for $1.3 million.