The man who used the tag “gorpetri” to make the winning bid of $615,000 for the painting Banksy modified and retitled, “The banality of the banality of evil,” reneged on his bid once the auction was over, according to the New York Times.
What happened next has caused some controversy in New York. Rachel Hirschfeld, an art collector whose bid of $614,800 was right behind the gorpetri bid, said she got a call on Nov. 1 from an auction official about the painting, the Times reports.
“She said, ‘You win the Banksy,’ ” Ms. Hirschfeld told the Times. “I said, ‘Why? Somebody bid more than me.’ She said, ‘He’s out.’ ”
Hirschfeld didn’t think it fair to pay the full price since she’d been bidding against an insincere bidder — obviously, in retrospect, gorpetri’s bids were not genuine. “Every bid that he made has to be out,” Hirschfeld told the Times.
Ultimately another bidder got the painting, but the auction house won’t reveal the new selling price. However, it was over $400,000, according to Hirschfeld, who told the Times she offered $400,000 and lost out to a higher offer.
For more on this story, head to the New York Times.
If you missed my previous Banksy posts, here’s an easy way to check them out: Day one, day two, day three, day four, day five, day six, day seven, day eight, day nine, day ten, day 11, day 12, day 13, day 14, day 15, day 16, day 17, day 18, day 19, day 20, day 21, day 22, day 23, day 24, day 25, day 26, day 27, day 28, day 29, day 30, day 31. Plus: “A Consideration Of The Politics Of Banksy’s Syria Video,” “Source For Banksy’s ‘Concrete Confessional’ Revealed,” “Banksy Update: NYC Mayor Attacks Street Artist,” and “Banksy Painting Sells For $615,000.”
