The anonymous artist also confirmed the auction house had not been let into the secret, posting on Instagram: 'Some people think it didn't really shred. In the video, entitled Shred the Love, the Director's Cut, Banksy reveals that 'in rehearsals' the shredding had worked 'every time', with footage of a test run showing a print passing through the shredder completely, so that none of the canvas remained intact. His Girl With Balloon was bought for £1.04 million by a European art collector - but almost as soon as the hammer fell, the canvas was passed through a secret shredder hidden in the large Victorian-style frame, leaving the bottom half in tatters and only a solitary red balloon left on a white background in the frame. The secretive street artist posted a video to his website on Tuesday night which showed the prank unfold at a Sotheby's sale on October 5. The gallery version featured spray paint and acrylic on canvas, mounted on a board.Banksy has appeared to suggest that a £1 million painting which was partially shredded immediately after it was sold at auction was supposed to have been cut up completely. The framed, stencil spray painting shows a girl reaching towards a heart-shaped balloon. But to their disappointment, it was later revealed to be a parking attendant from the local council. Dismaland sighting - In 2015, fans were convinced they spotted a man who they thought might look like Banksy outside his Dismaland installation in Weston-super-Mare.Bristol video footage - Grainy 47-second clip shows a man in a hoodie and a painter's face mask using stencils and cardboard to spray fresh graffiti in an underpass in Bansky's native Bristol in 2010.Bethlehem pictures - William Kasper, from London, believed he had unmasked the graffiti king with pictures captured in 2007. Members of the public later identified the painter as James Ame - also known as aka AM72 - a UK painter who lives in Israel.Liverpool pub sighting - A photo showing a man wearing a high-vis jacket appearing to start work on a painting of a giant white rat on the White Horse pub in Liverpool in 2004 sparked speculation Banksy had finally been unmasked.I think he has flipped the world of art over.' He said: 'No disrespect to Rob, I think he is a brilliant artist. Robert Del Naja was touted as the anonymous artist in 2017 when Bristol DJ Goldie appeared to name the Massive Attack member, a personal friend, in an interview.The painting was a copy of his famous image. Representatives for the artist have denied the theory. A painting by the secretive British artist Banksy shredded itself moments after it was sold at auction for a million British pounds (1.3 million). Years later researchers at Queen Mary University of London used 'geographic profiling' to match the locations of Banksy paintings to a pub, playing fields and residential addresses with links to Gunningham. Robin Gunningham was an early candidate to be 'revealed' as the man behind Banksy in 2008.Rumours have long circulated about the true identity of street artist Banksy.Ī number of people claim to have spotted him at work but no sighting has ever been officially confirmed while other clues have been used to try and unmask the legend. Some people think the auction house were in on it, they weren't.' The anonymous artist also confirmed the auction house had not been let in on the secret, posting on Instagram: 'Some people think it didn't really shred.

4 People were stunned when they saw the piece start to shred at the auction

Banksy girl with a balloon shred video