MIAMI — Banksy was a bust Tuesday at a Miami auction house where two pieces from his New York project — including a “Bandaged Heart Balloon,” which was tagged on a Brooklyn warehouse — failed to sell.
The spray-painted slab of cement, which got stuck in bad weather and couldn’t make the trip down South, was expected to go for about $500,000 at Fine Art Auctions Miami, but went unsold when the bidding flamed out at $250,000.
A second piece from last October’s headline-making “Better Out Than In” campaign — “Crazy Horse Car Door” — failed to meet the reserve and could only garner a $145,000 bid.
The auction house said it was unclear why the pieces didn’t sell.
“The auction market is very unpredictable,” said spokeswoman Ashley Jimenez.
The owner of the works, Manhattan gallerist Stephan Keszler, paid thousands of dollars to remove the 7,000-pound red heart from the side of a building in Red Hook and to seal up the 8-foot-by-11-foot hole left behind after Banksy finished his New York City tour last fall.
Keszler declined to reveal how much he actually paid for the “Bandaged Heart,” saying only, “Less than I will sell it for.”
Keszler has sold 11 Banksy pieces, including “Slave Labor Boy,” which went for $1.1 million.
A third Banksy piece, “Kissing Coppers” — a black-and-white stencil of two British cops locking lips — did manage to sell for a price of $575,000. It was expected to fetch up to $700,000.
It wasn’t among the pieces Banksy did when he caused a stir in New York City last October.