NEW YORK — A piece conceptual art consisting of a simple banana, attached to the wall with duct tapesold for $6.2 million at an auction in New York on Wednesday, with the winning bid coming from a prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneur.
‘Comedian’ by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was a phenomenon when it debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019as festivalgoers tried to figure out whether the single yellow piece of fruit attached to a white wall with silver duct tape was a joke or a cheeky commentary on questionable standards among art collectors. At some point, another artist took the banana off the wall and ate it.
The piece attracted so much attention that it had to be removed from view. Only three editions sold for between $120,000 and $150,000according to the gallery that handled the sale at the time.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / AP
Cryptocurrency platform founder buys ‘Comedian’
Five years later, Justin Sun, founder of cryptocurrency platform TRON, has now paid more than 40 times the higher price at the Sotheby’s auction. Or rather, Sun bought a certificate of authenticity that gives him the authority to stick a banana on the wall and call him “comedian.”
The piece attracted a lot of attention at the busy auction at Sotheby’s, with attendees in the packed room holding up their phones to take photos as two white-gloved handlers stood on either side of the banana.
Bidding started at $800,000 and within minutes shot up to $2 million, then $3 million, then $4 million and up, as auctioneer Oliver Barker quipped, “Don’t let it slip.”
“Don’t miss this opportunity,” Barker said. “These are words I never thought I would say: $5 million for a banana.”
The final hammer price announced at the venue was $5.2 million, not including the approximately $1 million in auction house fees paid by the buyer.
In a statement, Sun said the piece “represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes and the cryptocurrency community.” But he said the latest version of “Comedian” won’t last long.
“Additionally, I will personally eat the banana in the coming days as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place in both art history and popular culture,” Sun said.
Sotheby’s calls Cattelan “one of contemporary art’s most brilliant provocateurs.”
“He has consistently disrupted the art world status quo in meaningful, irreverent and often controversial ways,” the auction house said in a description of “Comedian.”
Magritte painting sells for a record $121.2 million
The sale came a day after a painting by Belgian surrealist René Magritte sold for $121.2 million at a separate auction, a record for the artist.
“The Empire of Light,” an eerie nighttime street scene under a pale blue daytime sky, was sold Tuesday as part of Christie’s sale of the collection of interior designer Mica Ertegun, who died last year at the age of 97.
The sale brings Magritte into the ranks of artists whose works have fetched more than $100 million at auction. Magritte is the 16th member of the club, which also includes Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, according to market analyst firm Artprice.
“The Empire of Light,” executed in 1954, was one of 17 versions of the same scene that Magritte painted in oil. Marc Porter, chairman of Christie’s Americas, called the sale “a historic moment in our sales space.”
The $121.2 million price included the auction house’s fees. The buyer was a telephone bidder whose identity was not disclosed.
