A work by British street artist Banksy sold at auction for almost £18.6 million ($25.4m) – a record price for one of his works.
The painting, which self-shredded the last time it was sold three years ago, reached £18,582,000, or almost 20 times more than its pre-shredded price.
Love is in the Bin was sold in London by auction house Sotheby's on Thursday after a 10-minute bidding war involving nine bidders in the sales room, online and on phone.
“It is almost three years to the day since one of the most ingenious moments of performance art this century made auction history,” said Alex Branczik, chairman of modern and contemporary art at Sotheby's Asia.
“It has been a whirlwind to follow the journey of this now legendary piece and to have it back in our midst, offering it tonight in the very room it was created by the artist.
“Banksy is no stranger to making headlines and this latest chapter in his story has captured imaginations across the world. We can only begin to guess what might come next.”
The painting, originally titled Girl with Balloon, made headlines in 2018 when it partially self-destructed at the end of the auction in which it was sold for £1.1m.
The canvas was passed through a secret shredder hidden inside the large frame, leaving the bottom half in tatters and only a solitary red balloon left on a white background in the frame.
Girl with Balloon, which depicts a small child reaching up towards a heart-shaped red balloon, was originally stencilled on a wall in East London and has been endlessly reproduced, becoming one of Banksy's best-known images.
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People take pictures of a new Banksy artwork in Islington, London, in March 2024. Getty Images -
A work by Banksy is removed in Peckham, south-east London, in December 2023. Getty Images -
Graffiti created by British artist Banksy under a protective screen on the damaged wall of a residential building in Irpin, Ukraine in April 2023. Getty Images -
An artwork painted on the side of a property in Herne Bay, Kent in March 2023. PA -
The artwork by street artist Banksy, titled 'Valentine's Day Mascara' on the side of a building in Margate, Kent in February 2023. PA -
A Reveller walks by a graffiti attributed to Banksy as he arrives at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival in June 2022. Reuters -
A Banksy artwork in Nottingham in October 2020. Reuters -
Show me the Monet by Banksy at Sotheby's Galleries in London in October 2020. AFP -
Banksy's Sunflowers From Petrol Station, inspired by Vincent van Gogh. PA -
Banksy captioned the photo of this work Game Changer. Photo: Instagram -
A customised stab-proof vest by street artist Banksy at the Design Museum in London. EPA -
A Banksy stencil posted on Instagram in June 2020, with a caption asking 'What should we do with the empty plinth in the middle of Bristol?' Photo: Instagram -
A Banksy piece inspired by the death of George Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests. Photo: Instagram -
Girl with a Pierced Eardrum, in Bristol. Getty -
Banksy released a new piece in his bathroom as he worked from home during the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Photo: Instagram -
A Valentine's Day piece by Banksy appeared in Bristol in February 2020. Reuters -
A Christmas mural by Banksy in Birmingham, December 2019. The piece made a statement about homelessness. Reuters -
Banksy's pop-up shop called Gross Domestic Product in Croydon, London in 2019. AFP -
A view of Banksy's migrant child mural, half-submerged in high water in Venice, November 2019. EPA -
Devolved Parliament at Sotheby's auction house in London, featuring chimpanzees as MPs in the House of Commons. EPA -
A Banksy artwork in Marble Arch, London, at the site of an Extinction Rebellion protest camp. EPA -
Love is in the Bin at the Frieder Burda Museum in Baden-Baden, Germany. EPA -
There is Always Hope. EPA -
Season's Greetings (2018) was painted on a garage in Port Talbot, Wales. Getty -
Part of the unauthorised exhibition entitled Banksy, Genius or Vandal? in Madrid, December 2018. EPA -
A piece by Banksy, acquired by actor Robin Williams, was among auction items on display in Los Angeles, September 2018. EPA -
A Brexit-inspired mural by Banksy in Dover, south-east England. EPA -
A veiled woman in mourning beside the Bataclan concert venue in Paris where 90 people where killed by terrorists in November 2015. EPA -
An artwork attributed to Banksy showing Napoleon's horse rearing, in Paris, June 2018. EPA -
A mural depicting a rat on a popped champagne cork, in Paris, June 2018. EPA -
A rat in the inner portion of a clock in New York City, March 2018. EPA -
A Banksy mural highlights the imprisonment of Turkish artist and journalist Zehra Dogan, on the Bowery, New York City in February 2019. EPA -
A Banksy painting appeared on the first day of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. EPA -
Flying Copper on display in Berlin. EPA -
The Bridge Farm Primary School where a new mural appeared during half term in Withchurch, England. The mural was a thanks to the school for naming a school wing after Banksy. EPA -
The Son of a Migrant from Syria depicting Apple's Steve Jobs in the refugee camp called The Jungle in Calais, France. EPA -
Dismaland, a temporary exhibition that opened at a derelict seafront lido in Weston-Super-Mare, England in 2015. Getty -
Bomb Hugger after it was defaced in Hamburg, February 2015. EPA -
Banksy appeared to comment on methods used by Britain's intelligence services with this piece in Cheltenham. EPA -
The Twin Towers in Tribeca appeared in New York in 2013. EPA -
A mural by Banksy in Queens, New York. EPA -
Three years after Hurricane Katrina wrought havoc in the Gulf of Mexico, Banksy created some commemorative pieces in New Orleans, Louisiana. EPA -
Another mural by Banksy in New Orleans. EPA -
A Banksy in London, May 2008. EPA -
A piece to mark Queen Elizabeth II's golden jubilee appeared on Clink Street, near London Bridge, in May 2002. EPA
Love is in the Bin massively outperformed its price estimate of between £4m and £6m.
The seller of the artwork, who placed the £1m winning bid on Girl with Balloon, previously described the shredding of the artwork as “surreal".
He said he became the “accidental but very privileged owner of Love is in the Bin".
In March, Banksy raised more than £16m for health projects by auctioning Game Changer, a hand-painted image showing a young boy playing with superhero dolls.
While Batman and Spider-Man are discarded in a bin, the child clutches a figure of a masked nurse wearing a cape.
