A Banksy artwork “self-destructed” at a Friday night Sotheby’s auction in London.
Maybe people should’ve suspected something was suspicious when the artwork sold for the exact same figure as the artist’s previous auction record in 2008.
Robert Casterline of Casterline Goodman gallery was in attendance and told Hyperallergic what happened next.
He explained there was “complete confusion” and an “alarm inside the frame started going off as the gavel went down.”.
Anny Shaw of the Art Newspaper spoke to Alex Branczik, the auction house’s head of contemporary art for Europe, who seemed as surprised as anyone.
“He is arguably the greatest British street artist, and tonight we saw a little piece of Banksy genius,” he said, adding that he was “not in on the ruse.”.
“It’s certainly the first piece to be spontaneously shredded as an auction ends.”. »