The world’s most expensive banana raised US$6.2 million ($9.57 million) after going under the hammer in New York.
Background: The yellow banana fixed to the white wall with silver adhesive tape is a work entitled Comico by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.
It first debuted in 2019 as a three-fruit edition at the Art Basel Miami Beach fair, where it became a much-talked-about phenomenon.
Was it a joke? A comment on the state of the art in the world? Another artist took the banana off the wall and ate it. A spare banana was brought.
The selfie-seeking crowds became so thick that Comedian was pulled from view, but three editions sold for between $US120,000 ($184,125) and $US150,000 ($230,156), according to Perrotin Gallery, which at the time managed sales.
Now, according to The Guardian, Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun has purchased Cattelan’s viral artwork for US$5.2 million ($7.98 million) during an auction at Sotheby’s in New York. Including the purchase premium, Sun will pay a total of $6.2 million ($9.57 million).
Key Quote: “What you buy when you purchase Cattelan’s Comico is not the banana itself, but a certificate of authenticity granting the owner permission and authority to reproduce this banana and tape on the wall as a work of art original by Maurizio Cattelan.” — David Galperin, head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s.
What else to know: The bidders did not purchase the same fruit displayed in Miami. Those bananas are long gone. Sotheby’s said the fruit always needed to be replaced regularly, along with the tape.
Sotheby’s reportedly purchased the banana on display for 35 cents that day, The Guardian reported.
Sun will receive a certificate of authenticity along with instructions for installing the artwork and replacing the banana.
What happens next: Sun told the Guardian that he intends to eat the banana as a way to “honor its place in both art history and popular culture.”