An artwork of a banana taped to a wall fetched over US$6.2M (S$8.3M) in an auction in the US on Wednesday (20 Nov).
Italian prankster Maurizio Cattelan’s piece, titled “Comedian”, featured an ordinary yellow banana plastered onto a wall with a diagonal piece of silver duct tape.
Source: The Guardian
According to The New York Times, the banana was purchased for US$0.35 (S$0.50) earlier that day.
The banana artwork was initially estimated to go for between US$1 million (S$1.35 million) and US$1.5M (S$2.02 million), according to Sotheby’s. The bidding started at US$800,000 (S$1.08 million).
The auction house added that the piece “belongs to the rare league of artworks that need no introduction”.
According to them, the piece “quickly erupted into a viral global sensation that drew record crowds, social media inundation, landed the cover of The New York Post, and divided viewers and critics alike.”
According to The Guardian, cryptocurrency bids were accepted, which opened up the bidding field to cryptocurrency investors.
The bids quickly exceeded the initial estimates in the fast-moving auction.
“I never thought I’d say ‘$5 million for a banana’,” an auctioneer, Oliver Barker, remarked. He described the work as “iconic” and “disruptive”, reports CNN.
The taped banana was eventually sold to Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur from China.
In return for the S$8.3M sum, Sun will receive:
He will also receive an instruction manual to accurately install the banana to the wall, and how to replace it if he wants to.
“This is not just an artwork,” Sun said. “It represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community.”
“I believe this piece will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and will become a part of history.”
Cattelan first debuted his artwork at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019, where three editions of the banana artwork were priced at US$120,000 (S$160,000) each.
It “captured the world’s attention immediately”, says David Galperin, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art for the Americas.
Source: AFP vs NBC News
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Featured image adapted from The Guardian and Renata Fabbri.
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