Banksy's partially shredded 'Love is in the Bin' goes on display in German museum

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A Banksy painting that partially shredded itself in front of shocked onlookers after being sold at auction for over a £1 million is going on display in Germany.

The Frieder Burda museum in Baden-Baden say they have deactivated the shredding mechanism that saw 'Love is in the Bin' - originally titled 'Girl with Balloon' - self-destruct after fetching more than three times its pre-sale estimate and equalling a record price for the artist at Sotheby's last year.

'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 became one of Banksy's best-known - and most replicated - images.

It gained notoriety after it was bought for £1.04 million by a European art collector at auction in October 2018, only for the canvas to pass through a shredder embedded in the large Victorian-style frame almost as soon as the hammer fell.

A video posted on Banky's Instagram account video later revealed how "a few years ago" the artist "secretly built a shredder into a painting...in case it was ever put up for auction".

People film the moment the picture shredded itself at Sotheby's. Credit: AP

The video appeared to suggest his million-pound painting was supposed to have been cut up completely, but was only partially shredded before being removed by Sotheby's staff.

Speaking after the stunt, head of contemporary European art at the auction house, Alex Branczik, said: "It appears we just got Banksy-ed."

Some art-market watchers suggested the work would be worth even more in its shredded state.

Frieder Burdabefore museum director Henning Schaper. Credit: AP

The painting will be shown from February 5 to March 3 at the Frieder Burdabefore before moving to the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart museum on permanent loan.

Frieder Burdabefore museum director Henning Schaper said they had secured the painting through knowing the buyer, adding visitors were "a totally different crowd" to the usual art goers the gallery attracts.

"Banksy is very popular with young people from the age of 15. Social media is full of Banksy's work, schools use Banksy in their English lessons, and we see it here - we suddenly have people as of the age of 15 in a quantity that we have never had before," he said.

Alongside the artwork, the gallery is showing the moment the picture shredded itself at Sotheby's.