A banana duct-taped to a wall sold for a total of $6.2 million at auction on Wednesday night, shattering expectations for the viral work of art that first made headlines at Art Basel in 2019. The piece, entitled Comedian, was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and displayed at the Miami art festival—only to prompt one artist to take a bite out of the fruit and another visitor to vandalize the display. Three other editions of Comedian, which simply consists of a banana and a piece of duct tape placed exactly 160 centimeters above the floor, sold for $120,000 and $150,000 in 2019, but Sotheby’s estimated the latest piece’s value would fetch somewhere between $1 million and $1.5 million. Voracious bidders at Wednesday’s live auction quickly pushed the price tag above $5 million. Even the auctioneer, Oliver Barker, seemed shocked at the flurry of bids for the fruit. “These are words I never thought I’d say. Five million for a banana. It’s your expensive banana, Jen,” he said, speaking to one of the auction house staffers. “Don’t let it slip away,” the auctioneer quipped. Comedian’s price tag extended to over $6.2 million with the buyer’s premium fee attached. Cryptocurrency mogul Justin Sun quickly identified himself as the buyer, proclaiming Cattelan’s piece was a “cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community“ and announcing that he would soon ”personally eat the banana.”
