• Art Sotheby's receives millionaire offers for the remains of the work of Banksy self-destroyed with a shredder

  • Art A Banksy work self-destructs moments after being sold for 1.2 million euros

  • Profile Banksy, the artist who made a canvas out of the street

Banksy's

painting

Girl with a balloon

returns to the scene of the crime.

Three years after partially self-destructing during an auction in London, what remains of the work is raffled off this Thursday at the same location.

This new version, renamed

Love is in the Bin

(

Love is in the bin

), is valued between 4 and 6 million pounds (4.6 and 7 million euros, 5.5 and 8.2 million dollars) , according to Sotheby's auction house.

This estimate, which could even fall short, is

between four and six times higher than the price reached in the first sale

to an anonymous collector in 2018.

The famous street artist, whose identity remains a mystery, stunned the world at that auction, also at Sotheby's in London.

As soon as the hammer sounded awarding the painting to the highest bidder, a mechanism hidden in the frame shattered the lower part of the canvas, which represents a girl releasing a heart-shaped balloon.

Now only the balloon remains on a white background.

With this action, Banksy assured wanting to denounce the "commodification" of art, although, in the end, the remains of his work will probably be revalued.

In its statement announcing the sale, Sotheby's described the destruction as the

"most spectacular artistic 'happening' of the 21st century,"

framed "in the heritage of countercultural art that began with Dadaism and Marcel Duchamp."

Rising value

"During that surreal night three years ago I accidentally became the privileged owner of

Love is in the Trash

... but it is time to part with it," said the anonymous buyer, quoted in the Sotheby's statement.

Balloon Girl

first appeared in 2002 as graffiti on a wall on London's South Bank and came to be named

Britain's favorite work of art.

On Friday, a diptych version of this work will also be auctioned in the British capital, but this time by Christie's.

Made in 2005, the canvas split in two can reach between 2.5 and 3.5 million pounds (3.4-4.8 million dollars, 2.9-4.1 million euros).

After the 2018 coup, the value of Banksy's works soared at auctions.

In March,

Game Changer

(

Changing the rules of the

game

), a canvas in honor of healthcare workers in

pandemic the coronaviru

s, sold at Christie's for 16.75 million pounds (22.9 million dollars, 19.5 millions of euros).

This mysterious artist from Bristol (southern England) became known for his provocative graffiti that invited society to reflect.

In 2005 he painted

Flower bomber

(

pitcher flowers

) on a wall of Jerusalem which portrays a masked protester to launch a bouquet of flowers.

Banksy has used his work to criticize Brexit, express his support for migrants or warn about the climatic urgency.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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