Maurizio Cattelan's banana sold for more than $6 million

It sold for an incredible $6,240,000 Comedian, Maurizio Cattelan’s famous work, the banana attached to the wall with packing tape. It was sold tonight in New York at auction at Sotheby’s, which had estimated $1-1.5 million for “the banana that broke the Internet,” as the auction house called it. Winning the work for the extraordinary sum, corresponding to about 5.9 million euros, was 34-year-old Chinese collector Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, who participated in the auction by phone through Sotheby’s Asia vice president.

"Consisting of a banana taped to a wall, hanging exactly 160 centimeters above the floor, Comedian belongs to the rare category of artworks that need no introduction, having quickly exploded into a global viral sensation that drew record crowds, flooded social media, landed on the cover of the New York Post and divided viewers and critics,“ Sotheby’s explains. ”Passionately debated, rhapsodically revered and hotly contested (and eaten not just once, but twice), the work made headlines around the world, becoming the most talked-about artwork of the century."

During the sale, auctioneer Oliver Barker called the work “iconic” and “disruptive,” adding, with a hint of irony, that he “never thought” he would sell a banana at auction. In fact, the buyer, of course, is not buying the banana itself: for the sum of $6.24 million, Sun purchased a certificate of authenticity as well as instructions on how to install the work and how to replace the banana. “It is not only a work of art,” Sun said in a statement to Sotheby’s, “but it represents a cultural phenomenon that unites the world of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community. I believe this piece will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and become part of history.”

The banana that shocked the art world

Maurizio Cattelan shocked the art world with Comedian, first exhibited at Art Basel Miami in 2019 and sold then for the sum of only, so to speak, $120,000, already considered a very high figure at the time (at least by Cattelan’s detractors). Behind this seemingly banal work lies a provocative commentary on the value of art and its relationship to the market, which has sparked heated debates among critics, collectors and the public.

The choice to use a banana, a fruit destined to decay, evokes the theme of transience and fleetingness, and is perhaps also reminiscent of ancient still lifes, but with the gesture of fixing it to the wall (something the artist had already done in 1999, moreover, with his gallerist Massimo De Carlo, attaching it to the wall with the same gray tape), Cattelan mocks art’s attempt to make eternal what is ephemeral. The title, Comedian, highlights the ironic and satirical nature of the work, which invites the viewer to reflect on the concept of artistic value: why can an everyday object acquire an astronomical price just because of the context in which it is placed?

An object that becomes a work, a discussed work

Comedian’s story is not limited to its sale, however. Artists and visitors have reinterpreted it through provocative actions. Famous is the 2019 episode in which Georgian artist David Datuna ate the banana displayed at Art Basel, in a now-famous performance. Similar episodes have been repeated, such as that of Noh Huyn-soo, a South Korean student who consumed the banana during an exhibition in Seoul, South Korea. These events reinforce the idea that the significance of Comedian lies in the interaction and provocation rather than just the object.

The work fits into a conceptual tradition that starts at least with Marcel Duchamp: Cattelan, with Comedian, explores the relationship between meaning and economic value, and perhaps wants to suggest to us that the true value of art lies in the discussion it generates and not in the object itself: in this sense, Comedian has already become an important work in the field ofrelational art. With his humor, Cattelan prompts reflection on profound issues without ever imposing an unambiguous message, leaving it up to the viewer to interpret. An experiment that questions the boundaries of art, the role of the artist and the power of the market. Beloved or derided, this work has nonetheless already left an indelible mark on the history of contemporary art.

Maurizio Cattelan's banana sold for more than $6 million

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