Back from my son's wedding this past weekend. All went well and smoothly, everyone seemed to have a great time. The newly weds are now off to Hawaii for a well deserved honeymoon.
I will try to get back to regular posts within the next few days as I get caught back up. I look forward to heading to NYC for the AAA conference, and hope to see many friends there. For more info on the conference and to register click HERE.
Now back to some art and appraisal posts. According to a NY Times article, the Banksy work, "Girl With Balloon" which was partially shredded after selling at Sotheby's for $1.4 million was actually supposed to be fully destroyed but the shredder jammed. Interesting, and Sotheby's is still disavowing any complicity in the shredding.
The NY Times reports
Source: The NY TimesLONDON — As the $1.4 million artwork began passing through a shredder hidden in its frame, gasps were heard in the auction room. About halfway through, the shredding suddenly stopped, and the top portion of “Girl With Balloon” seemed to have been saved.
But that reprieve, according to Banksy, the street artist who created the work — and who organized the prank to destroy it — wasn’t planned. In a clip posted to YouTube on Wednesday, Banksy suggested that he had meant for the painting to be completely destroyed at the auction in London on Oct. 5, but that the plan had been foiled when the shredder unexpectedly jammed.
In the clip, called “Shred The Love,” a man is shown building the frame, his face hidden by a hoodie. “In rehearsals it worked every time,” a caption says. The video then shows a copy of “Girl With Balloon” being completely shredded as it slipped out of the frame.
The copy in the clip appears to have been printed on paper, whereas the “Girl With Balloon” sold at auction was spray-painted on canvas, a tougher material, which may explain why the shredder failed. Joanna Brooks, the director of JBPR, who answers media enquiries on behalf of Banksy, did not respond to phone calls or to an email asking whether the rehearsals had indeed been conducted on paper copies.
“It does look like paper coming out, but there is a chance it could be a fine linen,” said Danielle Howe, who works at John Jones, a London-based canvas supplier. But, she added, “It’s difficult to determine without looking at the work in person.”
Banksy’s prank caused shock and amusement, but it also led to a rash of conspiracy theories about Sotheby’s involvement. “Some people think the auction house were in on it, they weren’t,” Banksy said in an Instagram post on Thursday alerting people to the YouTube clip.
Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art in Europe, also denied any collusion. In an interview with The Art Newspaper published on Wednesday, he said that Sotheby’s had asked Pest Control, Banksy’s official authentication body, if the gaudy frame could be removed before the auction.
“Pest Control said very clearly: The frame is integral to the artwork,” Mr. Branczik said.
He added that a “third-party conservator” had inspected the frame but had not noticed the shredder. “You address what you see — it was more like a sculpture,” Mr. Branczik said. The conservator did not take apart the frame, he added.
The buyer of the artwork has kept the piece. It is now called “Love Is in the Bin,” after Pest Control issued a new authentication certificate for the work.
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