Maurizio Cattelan’s art installation “Comedian” sold at auction at Sotheby’s in New York on Wednesday, purchased by a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur for approximately $6.2 million.
The final sale was roughly four times the initial estimated value, which Sotheby’s had listed between $1 million and $1.5 million.
Sotheby’s described the artwork as “Passionately debated, rhapsodically venerated, and hotly contested.”
All of this is important to keep in mind when considering that Cattelan’s “Comedian” is a single banana, reportedly purchased on the day of the auction for $0.35 according to the New York Times, and duct-taped to a blank wall.
At the auction, “Comedian” went from an $800,000 starting price to $5.2 million, plus a buyer’s premium by the time it sold, Reuters reported.
Is it art?
Wednesday’s sale is only the latest for “Comedian.”
Cattelan unveiled the project to the public in 2019 at Art Basel in Miami, where three editions of it sold for $120,000 and $150,000.
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From the moment it debuted, the duct-taped banana became a viral sensation and a seemingly absurd commentary on the question of “what is art?”
Writing in ARTnews in 2019, critic Andrew Russeth wrote that, “For many,’Comedian’ is an object lesson in the excesses of the art world, the absurdity of the art market, and the gaping wealth inequalities that now define the global economy.”
Shortly after the first sale, a performance artist simply pulled the banana off the wall and ate it in front of a crowd, an act that was repeated again in South Korea in 2023. In both cases, the banana was simply replaced and “Comedian” continued its existence.
Who bought ‘Comedian’?
The buyer on Wednesday was Justin Sun, founder of the Tron blockchain network, who outbid six others in the auction. He paid in crypto, Reuters reported.
“This is not just an artwork,” Reuters reported Sun telling Sotheby’s in a statement shortly after the purchase. “It represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community. I believe this piece will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and will become a part of history.”
Sun reportedly told the auction house that he planned to eat the banana.
Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com.
