The installation featuring bananas taped to a wall was auctioned by Sotheby's for approximately $6.2 million (158 billion VND).
At Sotheby's New York auction at 7 PM on November 20th (morning of November 21st, Hanoi time), Comician An artwork by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan fetched a price far exceeding the expected range of $1 million to $1.5 million (approximately 25-37 billion VND). The successful buyer received a banana and a roll of tape, along with a certificate and instructions for installing the artwork.
According to At Sotheby's , outbidding six other bidders, Chinese-born entrepreneur Justin Sun, founder of an e-commerce platform, won the auction. He received a banana, a roll of tape, a certificate, and instructions on how to arrange the artwork to replace it whenever the banana spoils. The entrepreneur said: Comician "It represents a cultural phenomenon that connects the art world ."
The work was previously involved in a copyright controversy. Source: CNN According to reports, in 2022, artist Joe Morford accused Cattelan of copying the ideas for his installation. Banana & Orange (Banana and Orange) was created by him in 2000. Morford's creation consists of a banana and an orange taped onto a green background.
Morford subsequently filed a lawsuit against Cattelan, seeking $390,000 in damages. However, Cattelan's lawyer stated that Morford did not possess "valid copyright" to the elements of the work.
Comician Belonging to a rare group of works that needed no introduction but quickly exploded into a global phenomenon, landing on the cover of... The New York Post, It sparked debate among critics and viewers. The auction house declared Maurizio Cattelan's work to be the most talked-about art piece of the century.
The artwork consists of a yellow banana, taped to the wall, by Created by Maurizio Cattelan in 2019. Comician It was previously presented to the public by the contemporary art gallery Perrotin at the Art Basel Miami Beach exhibition center in December of the same year.
Emmanuel Perrotin, the founder of Perrotin, said the artwork has three versions. Two were purchased by two French collectors for $120,000 five years ago. The remaining version, priced at $150,000, was sold to a museum.
In previous exhibitions, the banana was replaced whenever it spoiled. Emmanuel Perrotin described the product as "a symbol of global commerce, a classic comedic image."
In 2023, at an exhibition showcasing 38 works by the artist at the Leeum Art Museum in Seoul, a student He ate a banana, then used tape to stick the peel to the wall. When museum staff asked him to explain his actions, he replied that he had "skipped breakfast and was too hungry" and that "damaging modern artwork can also be considered a form of art."
Earlier in 2019, at the Art Basel exhibition center at the Galerie Perrotin museum in Miami, USA, artist David Datuna also removed a banana from the wall and ate it just minutes after the artwork sold for $120,000.
Maurizio Cattelan, 64, was born in Padua, Italy, and currently lives and works in New York, USA. He is one of the most famous and controversial artists in contemporary art. The artist often draws inspiration from the real world of people and objects in his creations.
Outside Comedian, He also caused a stir when he unveiled a toilet made of 18K gold, worth £4.8 million, in the United States . On display at the exhibition in Blenheim Palace in Woodstock (England).
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