# Banksy's Self-Shredding Painting

> A painting shredded at auction, then set a Banksy record at $25.4 million.

- Owner: Banksy
- Kind: Moment
- Sector: Retail
- Seed date: 2018-10-05
- Peak date: 2018-10-06
- Spread Score: 66 (Viral, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Real-world spectacle, Platform jump, Press loop, Controversy, Resale market, Brand pile-on

## Summary

Girl with Balloon partly shredded after selling at Sotheby’s London. Banksy’s explanation reached Twitter and Reddit, and brands copied the frame-and-strips image. The buyer kept the work, renamed Love is in the Bin; its 2021 resale set a Banksy record.

## Timeline

- 2018-10-05 — Banksy (Retail) — Girl with Balloon partly shredded itself after selling for £1,042,000 with fees at Sotheby’s London.
- 2018-10-05 — The Art Newspaper (Press) — The Art Newspaper reported the shredding that night and speculation about who had triggered it.
- 2018-10-06 — Banksy (Instagram) — Banksy posted “Going, going, gone...” and a video showing a shredder hidden in the frame.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/banksy-self-shredding-painting

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Banksy's Self-Shredding Painting.” Case HIS-00042. Spread Score v1.2: 66/100. Updated 2026-10-13. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00042