Bizarre work of art Crypto entrepreneur buys banana for 5.5 million francs
Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan is known for his bizarre sculptures. In 2019, he stuck a banana on the wall at an art fair in Miami. Now the piece fetched millions. Why?
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- A banana and a piece of adhesive tape - there's not really much more to a work of art by Maurizio Cattelan.
- Nevertheless, the Italian conceptual artist's work exceeded all expectations at a Sotheby's auction.
- A Chinese crypto-entrepreneur paid a whopping 5.5 million francs for the glued-on fruit.
In New York, Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun bought a banana and adhesive tape for 6.2 million dollars. The equivalent of just under 5.5 million francs is less a reflection of the astronomical prices in the cosmopolitan city than proof of the success of a provocative idea by conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan.
His work entitled "Comedian" was auctioned off for the enormous sum - a multiple of the expected amount - at Sotheby's auction house, as announced on the X platform. The buyer also spoke out via X and wrote: "This is not just a work of art, but a cultural phenomenon that connects the worlds of art, memes and the cryptocurrency community." He feels "honored to be the proud owner of the banana".
Banana needs to be replaced every two to three days
Cattelan, known for his often whimsical sculptures, originally presented the banana installation at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019 and set a price of 120,000 dollars. The American performance artist David Datuna then tore the banana off the wall and ate it. A few years later, there was a similar incident in a museum in South Korea, where an art student took the fruit off the wall, peeled it, ate it and then stuck the peel back on the wall.
Cattelan was said not to have minded. According to his instructions, the ripe banana on the wall should be replaced every two or three days. So the buyer, a Chinese crypto entrepreneur named Justin Sun, bought Cattelan's idea with a certificate rather than the banana and the tape itself.
Do we need to get excited about art again?
When Cattelan presented "Comedian" for the first time, it caused an unexpected stir. The banana 160 centimeters above the floor on the wall was the star of Art Basel. Some were incredulous, others fascinated, still others outraged: it wasn't art. Or was it? Critics say that every great work of art also attracts anger. This is due to the power of an object that pushes the boundaries of what we consider normal.
However, many viewers also emphasized how absurd and humorous "Comedian" is. The artist himself saw it a little differently in an interview a few years ago: "For me, Comedian was not a joke; it was a sincere commentary and a reflection on what we value.
"Art fairs are about speed and business, 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," said Cattelan.
In a video produced by Sotheby's, it says: "This is a work that draws its power from the question of how we value art. And there is no better forum to judge the value of art and an individual object than the platform of an auction."
dpa
