Banksy painting shreds itself minutes after being sold for $1.4 million
Well, there goes that.
The elusive Banksy is known just as much for his stunts as he is his artwork, so it makes perfect sense that his "Girl with Balloon" piece literally self-destructed just moments after its recent sale at Sotheby's in London.
The iconic spraypaint and acrylic on canvas piece of a girl grasping at a heart-shaped red balloon began dropping through a built-in, hidden shredder embedded in the artwork's frame after being sold for $1.4 million. It's not clear how the shredder was triggered at the precise moment after the sale, but with Banksy anything is possible.
The artist also reportedly posted a video of him installing the shredder and the frame doing its dirty work to his Instagram before later deleting it.
While it's not clear what this means for the work's buyer, auction house head Alex Branczik told The Associated Press that the piece might be even more valuable now.
Thumbnail image via Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images.