Lifestyle
Banksy’s ‘Broken Heart’ painting defaced on a Brooklyn wall is up for sale
NEW YORK (AP) — When the enigmatic street artist Banksy spray-painted a heart-shaped balloon covered with a Band-Aid on the wall of a Brooklyn warehouse, the nondescript brick building was instantly transformed into an art destination and the canvas of an unlikely graffiti battle.
Almost as soon as Banksy revealed the piece back in 2013, an anonymous tagger brazenly walked up and spray painted the words “Omar NYC” in red beside the balloon, to the dismay of onlookers.
Days later, someone stenciled “is a little girl” in white and pink beside Omar’s tag, followed by a seemingly sarcastic phrase in black: “I remember MY first tag.” Some think it was Banksy himself who secretly returned to the scene to add the rejoinder.
The apparent graffiti battle didn’t end there. Another tagger also attempted to leave his mark but was stymied by security guards. Today the phrase “SHAN” is still visible in light purple paint.
Maria Georgiadis, whose family owned the now-demolished warehouse and ultimately removed the section of wall to preserve the artwork, says the graffiti pastiche is quintessentially New York.
“It looks like a war going on,” she said recently. “They’re literally going at it on the wall.”
Artwork up for auction
The preserved wall, dubbed “Battle to Survive a Broken Heart,” will be going up for sale May 21 at Guernsey’s, the New York auction house.
Georgiadis, a Brooklyn schoolteacher, says the sale is bittersweet. Her father, Vassilios Georgiadis, ran his roofing and asbestos abatement company from the warehouse adorned with the balloon.
He died four years ago at age 67 from a heart attack, which is why some of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to the American Heart Association.
“It’s just very significant to us because he loved it and he was just so full of love,” Maria Georgiadis said on a recent visit to the art warehouse where the piece was stored for more than a decade. “It’s like the bandage heart. We all have love, but we’ve all went through things and we just put a little Band-Aid over and just keep on moving, right? That’s how I take it.”
The nearly 4-ton, 6-foot-tall (3.6-metric ton, 1.8-meter-tall) wall section is one of a number of guerrilla works the famously secretive British artist made during a New York residency in 2013.
At the time, Banksy heralded the work by posting on his website photos and an audio track recorded partly in a squeaky, helium-induced voice.
Banksy may not have painted response to tagger
Guernsey auction house President Arlan Ettinger said it is impossible to know for certain because Banksy works clandestinely. But he said the neat stenciling and wording “strongly suggest that this was a gentle way for Banksy to put the other artist in his place.”
Ulrich Blanché, an art history lecturer at Heidelberg University in Germany, called the piece a “very well executed” stencil notable partly because of Banksy’s decision to place it in Brooklyn’s port area of Red Hook.
“This part of NYC was not easy to reach at that time,” he said by email. “Banksy wanted people to go to places in NYC they never have seen and love them as well.”
But Blanche questioned whether the additional stenciled text was truly the work of Banksy, saying the word choice and design don’t appear to comport with the artist’s style at the time.
“To call a graffiti guy a ‘girl’ is not something Banksy would do in 2013. This is misogynic and immature in a sexist way,” he wrote. “Three different fonts that do not match and three colors — why should he do that? Too unnecessarily elaborated without reasons. So I think this was added by someone else.”
Blanché also said he is ambivalent about the pending sale, noting Banksy usually doesn’t authorize his street pieces for sale. At the same time, he understands the burden placed on property owners to protect and maintain them.
“Banksy’s works should be preserved, but for the community they were made for,” he said. “They should not be turned into goods. They are made and thought for a specific location. Not portable. Not sellable.”
Spokespersons for Banksy didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
Difficult to determine price
Maria Georgiadis’ brother, Anastasios, said his father had also hoped to keep the piece in Red Hook after having cut it out of the wall and framed in thick steel for safekeeping.
The elder Georgiadis, he said, envisioned the work as the centerpiece of a retail and housing development on the property, a dream he didn’t realize. The property has since been sold off by the family.
Ettinger said it is difficult to say what the piece might fetch. There is little precedent for a sale of a Banksy piece of this size, he said.
In 2018, a canvas that was part of Banksy’s “Girl With Balloon” series sold in London for 1.04 million pounds ($1.4 million), only to famously self-destruct in front of a stunned auction crowd.
Maria Georgiadis said she hopes whoever buys the ”Broken Heart” finds the same beauty and meaning her father drew from the piece.
When Banksy painted it, the family business had been recovering from destructive floods caused by Hurricane Sandy the prior year. Georgiadis recalls her father had no idea who Banksy was but was moved by the simple image.
“My dad had it in his head that Banksy knew what we went through,” she said. “He goes, ‘Can you believe it Maria? It’s a heart.’”
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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
It didn’t begin a long time ago or in a galaxy far far away, but every May 4 it feels like images, memes and promotional deals involving “Star Wars” have an inescapable gravity.
May 4 — or May the 4th, as fans say — has evolved over the years into Star Wars Day, an informal holiday celebrating the space epic and its surrounding franchise.
What is Star Wars Day?
Star Wars Day was created by fans as a sly nod to one of the films’ most popular catchphrases, “May the force be with you.” Get it? Good, now May the 4th be with you too.
It’s not an official holiday but has become so well-known that even former President Joe Biden marked it last year when “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill dropped by the White House a day beforehand.
“I think it’s a very clever way for fans to celebrate their passion and love for ‘Star Wars’ once a year,” said Steve Sansweet, founder and executive chairman of Rancho Obi-Wan, a nonprofit museum in California that has the world’s largest collection of “Star Wars” memorabilia.
How did it begin?
The phrase “May the 4th be with you” was used by fans in the years after the first film was released in 1977, and even appeared in a British political ad in 1979 celebrating Margaret Thatcher’s victory as prime minister on May 4 that year.
For some fans, the official Star Wars Day comes on May 25, the date of the first film’s release. The Los Angeles City Council even declared the date to be Star Wars Day in 2007, although the California Legislature voted in 2019 to designate May 4 as Star Wars Day.
How has it spread?
May the 4th caught on informally among fans through inside jokes shared on social media and viewings of the films to mark the occasion. Businesses eventually joined in on the fun, with brands ranging from Nissan to Jameson Whiskey running ads or posting on social media about it.
Disney, which acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, embraced the day as a way to further promote the franchise with merchandise, special screenings and other events surrounding the brand.
Not all “Star Wars” fans are enthused about how ubiquitous the once-underground joke has become. Chris Taylor, a senior editor at Mashable and author of “How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,” labels himself a “May the 4th grinch” in part because of its commercialization.
“I love a good dad joke as much as anyone, but my God you can take it too far,” Taylor said.
How is it being celebrated this year?
The day is being celebrated on a large and small scale this year. Disney+ is launching the new series “Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld” on the date, and it comes as the second season gets underway for another franchise series, “Andor.”
It also follows the announcement that a new stand-alone “Star Wars” film installment starring Ryan Gosling will be released in 2027.
Disney marks the day with the launch of new “Star Wars” merchandise, ranging from lightsaber sets to jewelry.
Most Major League Baseball teams have marked the day in recent years with special events incorporating “Star Wars” characters. For example, the San Francisco Giants sold special tickets for Saturday’s game that included a bobblehead portraying pitcher Logan Webb as “Obi-Webb Kenobi.”
It’s hard to find a place where May the 4th celebrations aren’t occurring, from bakeries serving cookies with a “Star Wars” theme to concerts featuring the memorable scores of the films.
It’s a town-wide celebration in New Hope, Pennsylvania, which shares its name with the subtitle of the first “Star Wars” film. The town of about 2,600 people, located 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Philadelphia, plans to have costumed characters throughout town with restaurants serving themed items like a “YodaRita.”
“I would always joke around and wish people ‘May the 4th’ — but taking it to this level, I’ve definitely upped my ‘Star Wars’ nerdiness,” said Michael Sklar, president of the Greater New Hope Chamber of Commerce.
Despite the chance of rain in the forecast, colorful plumed hats are again a fashion staple at Churchill Downs for the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky.
The tradition of wearing hats to the Derby began with its first running in 1875. They began taking on a life of their own in the 1960s, growing larger and more ornate so the people wearing them could be spotted on television.
The hats are just one of the features among the 150,000 fans jammed under the Twin Spires for a fashion show mixed with an all-day party that is heavy on traditions like mint juleps, singing “My Old Kentucky Home” while they wait for the 2-minute drama to see the winning horse get a garland of red roses draped on its back.
A race fan stands in a tunnel at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
A photo gallery of the event, curated by AP photo editors. For more AP horse racing coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
Race fans walk through the stands at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A jockey walks past flowers at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A fan looks out at the paddock at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Fans look over racing programs at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A person walks past hats for sale at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A sign warns of approaching sever weather at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A race fan walks through the stands at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
A race fan watches from the stands at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Race fans sit among flowers at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
People look over racing programs at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race, Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A race fan smiles at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
A race fan walk through the stands at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
A race fan watches from the stands at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
A race fan walk through a tunnel at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Race fans walk though the grounds at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Friday, May 2, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
LONDON (AP) — For Ethel Caterham, the trick to a long life — and in her case, it really has been — is not to argue.
Caterham, who is 115, became the world’s oldest living person, according to the Gerontology Research Group, after Sister Inah Canabarro, a Brazilian nun and teacher, died on Wednesday at the tender age of 116.
“Never arguing with anyone, I listen and I do what I like,” she said from her nursing home in Surrey, southwest of London, on the secret to her longevity.
She was born on Aug. 21, 1909, in the village of Shipton Bellinger in the south of England, five years before the outbreak of World War I. She was the second youngest of eight siblings.
Travel has been in her blood, it’s clear. In 1927, at the age of 18, Caterham embarked on a journey to India, working as a nanny for a British family, where she stayed for three years before returning to England, according to the GRG.
This undated handout provided by Hallmark Care Homes shows Ethel Caterham, who on Friday, May 2, 2025 is now the world’s oldest woman according to LongeviQuest. (Hallmark Care Homes via AP)
She met her husband Norman, who was a major in the British army, at a dinner party in 1931, and they were stationed in Hong Kong and Gibraltar, the GRG said. They had two daughters whom they raised in the U.K. Norman died in 1976.
Hallmark Lakeview Luxury Care Home in Camberley, where Caterham is a resident, posted pictures of her cutting a cake and wearing a “115” tiara in a Facebook post on Thursday.
“Huge congratulations to Lakeview resident, Ethel on becoming the oldest person in the world! What an incredible milestone and a true testament to a life well-lived,” it said in an accompanying statement. “Your strength, spirit, and wisdom are an inspiration to us all. Here’s to celebrating your remarkable journey!”
The title of the oldest person ever is held by French woman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years 164 days, according to Guinness World Records.
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