Sotheby’s is auctioning off a banana stuck to a wall for £1.5 million – and it comes with a strange gimmick.
Hailed by the corridor’s head of contemporary art as “a challenging work of pure genius,” Maurizio Cattelan’s comedian took the world by storm after its performance at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019.
The work consists of a unique banana taped to a wall and attracted record crowds at its initial opening.
However, the strange piece caused such controversy and unrest among the crowd that it had to be removed from the premises before the initial 2019 exhibition ended.
It now returns to New York in a public exhibition from November 8 to 20, and is estimated to fetch between £1 and £1.5 million at auction.
Sotheby’s auctions a piece of fruit stuck to a wall for £1.5 million and it comes with a strange trick
But this time, the piece comes with a surprising detail: the buyer will not buy the famous original banana, but simply the instructions on how to recreate it.
The auction winner will receive a certificate of authenticity giving them the right to display the artwork and detailed instructions on how to display it.
They will also receive a roll of duct tape and a banana, which Galperin said “can be replaced as needed.”
David Galperin, Sotheby’s director of Contemporary Art in the Americas, said: ‘The most influential and radical works of art of the last century have had the power to fundamentally change perceptions about the nature of art itself.
‘In this spirit, Comedian is a challenging work of pure genius. Balancing deep critical thinking and subversive wit, this is a defining work for the artist and for our generation.
‘With a single brilliant gesture, Cattelan shook the foundations of the art world and brought art to the center of mainstream popular culture.
‘If at its core, Comedian questions the very notion of the value of art, then auctioning the work this November will be the definitive realization of its essential conceptual idea: the public will finally have a say in deciding its true value. Whatever your opinion, you won’t want to miss the feel of the season.”
The piece will be exhibited as part of the Now and Contemporary evening auction in November, before embarking on a world tour to major cities including London, Paris, Milan, Hong Kong, Dubai, Taipei, Tokyo and Los Angeles, and returning to New York. York for display ahead of the November 20 auction.
The work consists of a unique banana taped to a wall and attracted record crowds at its initial performance.
Artist Maurizio Cattelan, creator of the Comedian, is pictured this month.
However, the artist claims that the infamous piece was never intended to be a “joke.”
Cattelan previously said: ‘For me, Comedian was no joke; It was a sincere comment and a reflection on what we value.
‘Speed and business reign at art fairs, 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.’
Last year, a South Korean art student who was “hungry” after skipping breakfast ate the banana while it was on display at Seoul’s Leeum Art Museum.
The student, Noh Huyn-soo, daringly taped the peel to the wall after eating the banana. Local media reported that a new banana was placed in the empty spot.
According to the museum, the banana was replaced every two or three days.
Stunned viewers shouted “excuse me” at Mr Noh during the recording, but he appeared to ignore the shouts and continued eating the banana.
He briefly posed with his skin against the wall before leaving the room.
Speaking later to local media about the incident, Noh said the video was an act of “rebellion” against Catellan’s own “rebellious” artwork.
Last year, a South Korean art student who was “hungry” after skipping breakfast ate the banana while it was on display.
Speaking later to local media about the incident, Noh said the video was an act of rebellion against Catellan’s own rebellious artwork.
According to the museum, the banana should be replaced every two or three days.
“There could be another rebellion against the rebellion,” the Seoul National University student told KBS.
‘Damaging a work of art could also be seen as a work of art, I thought it would be interesting… Isn’t it engraved there to be eaten?’
When told about the incident, Mr. Cattelan, a New York-based sculptor and performance artist, responded: “There is no problem.”
Performance artist David Datuna was the first to remove the banana from the wall in 2019, after the work sold for $120,000 (£91,000) at Art Basel in Miami.
The banana had been replaced at that time and no action was taken.
Datuna told The Guardian at the time that although he considered Cattalan “a genius”, he took issue with the huge amount of money made from a banana that cost 20 cents.
“I have traveled to 67 countries around the world in the last three years and see how people live,” Datuna said. ‘Millions are dying without food. Then he puts three bananas on the wall for half a million dollars?
David Datuna, who describes himself as a Georgia-born American artist living in New York, approaches the banana at Galerie Perrotin in Miami and tears it off the wall with the tape attached.
In the photo: Emmanuel Perrotin, founder of the Perrotin Gallery with the banana artwork in 2019.
A woman poses with Cattelan’s work before it was eaten.
Artist Maurizio Cattelan (pictured at Milan Fashion Week in 2018) says the piece was never intended to be a “joke.”
The artwork follows the legacy of other controversial pieces, such as Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, a ready-made porcelain urinal turned upside down, mounted on a pedestal and signed with a pseudonym.
Meanwhile, Banksy’s Love is in the bin, famously shredded after being sold on the Sotheby’s sales floor in 2018.
Describing Cattelan’s work, curator Nancy Spector has written: ‘It is aspirational but ironic; comical but critical; and elusive but instantly accessible, given his pop sensibility.
“As a seasoned outlaw, Cattelan navigates a fine line between what is socially and culturally acceptable and what is not.”
The artist’s auction record was set in 2016, when it sold for $17.2 million.
He was previously best known for his fully functioning 18-carat gold toilet called ‘America’ which he had once offered on loan to US President Donald Trump.
The toilet, valued at between $5 million and $6 million, made headlines when it was stolen from Britain’s Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of war leader Winston Churchill, where it had been on display.
