Banksy's 'Girl With Balloon' diptych up for auction for the first time

LONDON: A two-part version of Banksy's "Girl With Balloon" painting is seen fetching up to $4.75 million when it goes under the hammer for the first time at a Christie's auction in London later this month.

The rare edition, one of 25 created by the elusive British street artist in 2005, features a young girl in one painting and her heart-shaped balloon in another.

"It's a pretty signature image for Banksy in that he did the first iteration of it on the streets," Katharine Arnold, co-head of Post-War and Contemporary Art for Christie's in Europe, told Reuters as the artwork went on display at the auction house's London showrooms on Friday.