Sotheby's Hong Kong autumn auction has ended, while the London Contemporary Art Evening Sales continues.
Banksy's self-fragmented painting Love Is In the Bin, which once attracted global attention, returned to the same auction room three years later. It sold for £18.5 million pounds (around US$25.4 million dollars), and set the auction record for this mysterious graffiti artist.
Love Is In The Bin was what remained of the artist's live destruction of his piece Girl with Balloon, which sold for £1.04 million pounds (around US$1.4 million dollars) in 2018. The painting is confirmed to be purchased by an Asian buyer.
The sale made a total of £65.9 million pounds (US$90.5 mllion dollars). It also marked a post-lockdown celebration of creativity and notably, the dramatic ascent of new talent alongside established talents.
Banksy | Love Is In The Bin, Spray paint and acrylic on canvas mounted on board, framed by the artist
Created in 2018 (Subject to the year when the painting was damaged, the original painting was created in 2006)
142 x 78 x 18 cm
Provenance:
- Gift from the Artist to a private collection
- Sotheby's, London, 5 October 2018, Lot 67
- Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Estimate: £4,000,000 – 6,000,000
Hammer Price: £16,000,000
Sold: £18,528,000 (around US$25.4 million)
This work was estimated at £4 million to 6 million pounds. The bidding started from £2.5 million pounds, setting off a 10-minute bidding war. Amongst the nine bidders competing for this painting – three were at the sale, five were bidding through a team of experts on the phone and the remaining one was an online buyer.
After 28 bids, the hammer was finally dropped at £16 million pounds – four times the estimated price and far beyond expectations. The painting was sold for £18.53 million pounds (around US$25.4 million dollars) with buyer's premium. The painting was bid by Nick Buckley Wood, Director of Private Sales, Asia Department, for the client with paddle number 40. After the sale, Sotheby's announced confirmation that the buyer was an Asian collector.
The auctioneer Oliver Barker joked at the moment of the hammer: "I'm terrified" for fear of whether Banksy will bring any new tricks to the sale. However, no surprise appeared.
The Surprise
In 2018, Banksy's artwork was auctioned at Sotheby's London as Girl and Balloon. It was sold for £1.04 million pounds, setting the auction record of Banksy's works at that time.
Unexpectedly, when the auctioneer dropped the hammer, Girl and Balloon suddenly made a strange sound like an alarm. The artwork in the frame slipped out slowly, and the lower half was shredded. People at the scene were surprised, and staff members immediately took it away.
Afterwards, Sotheby's expressed surprise, calling the incident a Banksy prank. Banksy himself posted a picture of the moment when his painting "self-destructed" on Instagram. The description was "Going, going, gone...", and admitted that he planned this "remote-control self-destruction" operation.
The painting's new name was called Love Is In The Bin.
Emerging Artists
Emerging artists from diverse backgrounds sold for auction records – including British artists Flora Yukhonovich and Jade Fadojutimi, Polish artist Ewa Juszkiescwiz, South African artist Cinga Samson and another London-based artist Oli Epp. The artworks below are arranged in order of price.
Flora Yukhonovich | I’ll Have What She’s Having, Oil on linen
Created in 2020
169.5 x 220 cm
Provenance:
- Parafin, London
- Acquired from the above by the present owner
Estimate: £60,000 – 80,000
Hammer Price: £1,850,000
Sold: £2,253,500 (around US$3.09 million)
Jade Fadojutimi | The Barefooted Scurry Home, Oil on canvas
Created in 2017
170 by 190 cm
Provenance:
- Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London
- Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2017
Estimate: £180,000 – 250,000
Hammer Price: £670,000
Sold: £825,700 (around US$1.13 million)
Ewa Juszkiewicz | Maria (After Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck), Oil on canvas
Created in 2013
130 x 100 cm
Provenance:
- Lokal_30, Warsaw
- Acquired from the above by the present owner
Estimate: £30,000 – 40,000
Hammer Price: £280,000
Sold: £352,800 (around US$485,000)
Cinga Samson | Lift Off, Oil on canvas
Created in 2017
80.4 x 59.9 cm
Provenance:
- blank projects, Cape Town
- Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2017
Estimate: £50,000 – 70,000
Hammer Price: £225,000
Sold: £321,300 (around US$441,000)
Oli Epp | Love Song, Oil and acrylic on canvas
Created in 2019
200 by 150 cm
Provenance:
- Acquired by the present owner directly from the artist
Estimate: £25,000 – 35,000
Hammer Price: £140,000
Sold: £176,400 (around US$242,000)
Richter
Richter’s abstract works, from the renowned German Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs, were sold for a total of approximately £23.5 million pounds (around US$32.2 million dollars).
Gerhard Richter | S.D., Oil on canvas
Created in 1985
200 x 200 cm
Provenance:
- Mrs Helga Lauffs (acquired directly from the artist in April 1986)
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: £7,000,000 – 9,000,000
Hammer Price: £8,200,000
Sold: £9,619,800 (around US$13.2 million)
Gerhard Richter | Abstraktes Bild (576-1), Oil on canvas
Created in 1985
180 x 120 cm
Provenance:
- Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
- Mrs Helga Lauffs (acquired directly from the above in January 1986)
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: £5,000,000 – 7,000,000
Hammer Price: £6,600,000
Sold: £7,896,300 (around US$10.8 million)
Gerhard Richter | Abstraktes Bild (576-2), Oil on canvas
Created in 1985
180 x 120 cm
Provenance:
- Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
- Mrs Helga Lauffs (acquired directly from the above in January 1986)
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: £5,000,000 – 7,000,000
Hammer Price: £5,000,000
Sold: £5,943,000 (around US$8.1 million)
Auction Summary
Auction House: Sotheby’s London
Sale: Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Date: 14 October 2021
Number of lots: 43
Sold: 37
Unsold: 6
Sale Rate: 86%
Sale Total: £65,943,950 (around US$90.6 million)