Banksy’s half shredded artwork sells for record amount

Banksy is a famous – but anonymous – British graffiti artist. He keeps his identity a secret.

He produces pieces of work which pop up in public places, such as on the walls of buildings. A lot of his art is done in a particular style which people can easily recognise.

The painting features a famous Banksy stencil of a girl reaching up toward a heart-shaped red balloon.

After the shredding only the heart shaped balloon was left intact inside the frame, with the shredded strips from the painting hanging below it.

The shredding was a deliberate stunt by the street artist, with the artwork re-titled ‘Love Is In The Bin’.

Nine bidders battled for around 10 minutes to get the artwork which Sotheby’s contemporary art chairman Alex Branczik labelled “the ultimate Banksy artwork and a true icon of recent art history”.

It is the most ever paid for a piece of Banksy artwork, with the total amount the buyer paid rising to £18.5 million after a buyer’s fee was added on.

This means it beats the previous record of £16.8m set for Banksy in March.