Banky's shredded 'Love is in the Bin' artwork sells for £18.5m at Sotherby's auction

Banksy's 'Love Is In The Bin' is estimated to fetch between £4-6 million at auction
The partially shredded painting fetched millions after being auctioned for the second time in three years. Credit: PA

A partially-shredded Banksy painting has been successfully sold at an auction for £18.5m, a record-breaking sum for the auction house.

The Bristol-based artist's 'Love is in the Bin' artwork was previously sold in 2018 as the 'Girl with Balloon' for a record-breaking £1.04m.

But the piece started to self-destruct immediately after being sold, using a shredder hidden in the bottom of the frame. Within seconds of the gavel striking, the majority of the work was cut into strips.

Three years later, the spray-painted canvas returned to Sotherby's auction house and the artwork was successfully bought without self-destructing today (Thursday 14 October).

The artwork originally depicted a girl clutching for a balloon. But after being shredded, only a solitary red balloon on a white background was left in the frame, causing it to be renamed 'Love is in the Bin'.

The moment when Girl With Balloon shredded itself after being sold was caught on camera in 2018. Credit: PA.

The elusive artist has previously admitted that the entire work was supposed to be destroyed, but a problem with the shredder meant the canvas did not run all the way through.

The piece, created in 2006, went on sale with an estimated selling price of between £4million and £6million, but sold for nearly three times that amount.

The painting is accompanied by a Pest Control Certificate of Authenticity.