Comedian" artwork

Banana sculpture sold at auction for 6.2 million dollars

(Bild: AP/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

A banana complete with adhesive tape has been auctioned off in New York for 6.2 million US dollars. The equivalent of almost 5.9 million euros is not a reflection of the astronomical prices in the cosmopolitan city, but proof of the success of a provocative idea by conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan.

Cattelan's work entitled "Comedian" was auctioned off for the enormous sum - many times the amount expected in the run-up to the auction - at Sotheby's auction house, as announced on the X platform (formerly Twitter).

Installation first presented in 2019
Cattelan, known for his often bizarre sculptures, originally presented the banana installation at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019 and set a price of 120,000 dollars.

When Cattelan presented his artwork "Comedian" (pictured) for the first time, it caused quite a stir.

(Bild: AP/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

The American performance artist David Datuna then tore the banana off the wall and ate it. A few years later, there was a similar incident in a museum in South Korea, where an art student took the fruit off the wall, peeled it, ate it and then stuck the peel back on the wall.

Cattelan was said not to have minded. According to his instructions, the ripe banana on the wall should be replaced every two or three days. The buyer, a Chinese crypto-entrepreneur named Justin Sun, thus acquired Cattelan's idea with a certificate rather than the banana and the tape itself.

Artwork was once the star of Art Basel
When Cattelan presented "Comedian" for the first time, it caused quite a stir. The banana 160 centimeters above the floor on the wall was the star of Art Basel. Some were incredulous, others fascinated, still others outraged: it wasn't art. Or was it? Critics say that every great work of art also attracts anger. This lies in the power of an object that pushes the boundaries of what we consider normal.

However, many viewers also emphasized how absurd and humorous "Comedian" is. The artist himself saw it a little differently in an interview a few years ago: "For me, Comedian was not a joke; it was a sincere commentary and a reflection on what we value. Art fairs are about speed and business, so I saw it like this: if I had to be at a fair, I could sell a banana like others sell their paintings. I could play within the system, but with my rules," said Cattelan.

In a video produced by Sotheby's, it says: "This is a work that draws its power from the question of how we value art. And there is no better forum to judge the value of art and an individual object than the platform of an auction."