Arguably the most famous artwork of the past decade has found a new buyer.
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Comedian, a sculpture by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan that consists of a banana duct taped to a wall, sold for US$6.2 million at Sotheby’s in New York after more than six minutes of fierce bidding.
The buyer was Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, the auction house confirmed.
The work, which is one of an edition of three, plus two artist’s proofs, carried a presale estimate of US$1 million to US$1.5 million, though advance buzz predicted – accurately, as it turns out – it would sell for several times that amount.
“It’s an artwork that’s a perfect representation of the times that we’re living in, which celebrates spectacle,” said adviser Rob Teeters a few hours before the sale.
The piece premiered in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Beach, when it was displayed in the booth of the Perrotin gallery. It immediately caused a stir, with onlookers growing so thick that the gallery was forced to take it down for crowd control.
