Maurizio Cattelan’s provocative artwork, featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall, has sold for $6.2 million (£4.9 million) at Sotheby’s in New York, surpassing pre-sale estimates by four times.
The auction house revealed that Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun outbid six other competitors to acquire the “Comedian” installation from the Italian visual artist on Wednesday.
“In the coming days, I will personally eat the banana as part of this unique artistic experience,” Mr. Sun was quoted as saying.
The taped banana, now one of the most expensive fruits ever sold, was originally purchased earlier in the day for just $0.35, according to the New York Times.
“Comedian” was first revealed to the public in 2019, quickly becoming a viral sensation and sparking intense debates about the nature of art.
This installation, which has toured the globe, comes with instructions for replacing the banana when it inevitably rots.
In fact, the fruit has been consumed more than once. In 2023, a South Korean art student took a bite when the installation was on display at Seoul’s Leeum Museum of Art. The museum later replaced the banana in the same spot, as reported by local media.
Four years earlier, a performance artist removed the banana from the wall after the artwork was sold for $120,000 at Art Basel in Miami. The banana was promptly replaced, and no further action was taken.
Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron blockchain network, which facilitates cryptocurrency transactions, purchased the artwork. Last year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused him of fraud, alleging he had artificially inflated the trading volumes of TRX, Tron’s crypto token. Mr. Sun denies the allegations.
