A Banksy cut in half is on sale again — this time for millions more

A Banksy artwork that is sensational. Self-cut It’s up for resale right after it sold for $1.4 million — several times the previous price.

“Love in the Bun” will go on sale in London on October 14, auctioneer Sotheby’s said on Friday. The piece has a pre-sale estimate of 4 million to 6 million pounds ($5.5 million to $8.3 million).

It consists of a half-cut canvas with a spray-painted image of a girl reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon.

Then known as “Girl with Balloon”, the work was sold at Sotheby’s in October 2018. Just as an anonymous European buyer placed the winning bid, A hidden shredder embedded in the frame Swirled to life by Banksy, leaving half the canvas hanging from the frame in strips.

The buyer decides to go through with the purchase – a decision that will be validated if the image achieves its estimated value.

Sotheby’s chairman of modern and contemporary art, Alex Brunczyk, called “Love in the Bin” “the definitive Banksy artwork and a true icon of recent art history”.

“Love in the Bin is born out of the greatest artistic phenomenon of the 21st century,” he said. “When ‘Girl with Balloon’ ‘self-destructed’ in our cellroom, Banksy sparked a global sensation that has since become a cultural phenomenon.”

The artwork will travel to London, Hong Kong, Taipei and New York for public display before going on sale next month.

Binski, who has never confirmed his full identity, began his career spray painting buildings in Bristol, England and became one of the world’s most famous artists. His mischievous and often satirical images include two cops kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee emblazoned with the words, “Laugh now, but one day I’ll be in charge.”

“Girl with Balloon” was originally stenciled on a wall in East London and has been reproduced endlessly, becoming one of Banksy’s most famous images.

Earlier this year, a blockchain company Bought a $95,000 Banksy artwork.burned it and broadcast it live on Twitter — all part of the process of turning the work into a virtual asset called a non-fungible token, or NFT.

Injection Protocol, the company behind the stunt, bought a screen print from New York called “Moornes (White).” Taglialatella Gallery, then burnt it on Monday evening. The incident, which took place in an undisclosed neighborhood in Brooklyn, was streamed live via a Twitter account. Brent Banksy. Employees then created a digital representation of the art using blockchain technology.

Dan Patterson contributed to this report.