The viral duct-taped banana art piece sold for $6.2 million plus fees at a contemporary art auction in New York.
Titled Comedian, the duct-taped banana work of art was created by Italian artist and noted prankster Maurizio Cattelan. Comedian debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019, and it became viral after attendees of the event wondered if it was a serious piece of art or a joke. Another artist at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019 removed the banana from the wall and ate it.
The infamous duct-taped banana
After its 2019 appearance at Art Basel Miami Beach, the controversial duct-taped banana gained a certain notoriety within the art community. Despite the fact Comedian spoils and has to be disposed of after a few days, the piece was sold for prices between $120,000 and $140,000 three separate times before it was sold at $6.2 million to Justin Sun, founder of cryptocurrency platform TRON.
The amount Sun paid for Cattelan’s work was forty times the price it sold for previously, all for a certificate testifying that the cryptocurrency entrepreneur can duct-tape a banana to his wall that will spoil within the week and consider it art.
Bidding at the auction for Comedian started off at at $800,000, a price already significantly higher than what it had previously sold for. Experts said that Sun’s expensive purchase and the fact that people were willing to bid on the piece suggested that the world’s wealthiest people are still willing to spend big on art despite a worsening economy.
“Returns in the market have been flat or decreasing over the last decade,” said Michael Moses, who tracks the investment potential of artwork for clients. “It’s a fascinating asset because you can get so much joy from it that people are willing to accept lower returns. Joy is not something to be messed with.”
“Cultural phenomenon”
Though Sun purchased the art piece, he did not attend the auction in person. Instead, he attended remotely from Hong Kong. The cryptocurrency entrepreneur said he will eat the banana off the wall in honor of its significance in history.
Sun said in a statement that Cattelan’s Comedian “represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community.”
Sun also added that his purchase, along with Donald Trump’s election into office, will spark a mass investment in art from several of crypto’s biggest names.
The auction house that sold the duct-taped banana to Sun said that Cattelan is one of art’s best in the modern day.
“He has persistently disrupted the art world’s status quo in meaningful, irreverent, and often controversial ways,” said the auction house.
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