Maurizio Cattelan’s Duct-Taped Banana Auctioned for $6 Million

Maurizio Cattelan’s infamous duct-taped banana shattered already-high expectations at the auction block this week. Comedian fetched a staggering $6.2 million at Sotheby’s on November 20. Bidding blew past the presale estimate of $1–1.5 million and obliterated the conceptual artwork’s original 2019 sale price of $120,000.

The duct-taped banana took the stage early on in Sotheby’s evening sale of contemporary art. According to Artnet, auctioneer Oliver Barker introduced Cattelan’s Comedian as “a viral sensation that has skyrocketed to universal recognition.” Bidding began at $800,000 and quickly escalated. Jen Hua, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, ultimately placed the winning bid of $6.2 million on behalf of cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, who paid for the duct-taped banana with cryptocurrency.

“This is not just an artwork,” Sun said in a statement to Sotheby’s. “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.”

“The Most Talked About Artwork of the Century”

Before Wednesday’s auction, Sotheby’s exhibited Maurizio Cattelan‘s Comedian at its New York City headquarters. The duct-taped banana was installed in a custom-built enclave, complete with its own security stationed nearby. This particular banana was sourced by Sotheby’s staff from a fruit stand just outside the building. Technically, the $6 million price tag did not buy the winning bidder a decaying piece of fruit and a roll of duct tape. Rather, ownership of Comedian comprises a certificate of authenticity and an instruction manual specifying the exact angle and height at which to tape a banana onto a wall. That way, Cattelan’s artwork can be indefinitely recreated in an official capacity—although the owner is on the hook for replacing the banana themselves.

“No other artwork from the twenty-first century has provoked scandal, sparked imagination, and upended the very definition of contemporary art like Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian,” reads Sotheby’s catalog entry for the duct-taped banana artwork. “Passionately debated, rhapsodically venerated, and hotly contested—and eaten not only once, but twice—the work headlined news stories shared around the world, becoming the most talked-about artwork of the century…. Cattelan—in his greatest coup to date—single-handedly prompted the world to reconsider how we define art, and the value we seek in it.”

The duct-taped banana carried a guarantee from Sotheby’s, which gave the artwork a presale estimate between $1 million and $1.5 million. The low end of that estimate is ten times the original sale price of Comedian, which made its first viral appearance at Art Basel Miami Beach five years ago. Maurizio Cattelan conceived the duct-taped banana artwork as an edition of three. He sold them for over $100,000 each before the 2019 fair was over. One edition was later gifted anonymously to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Sotheby’s reported that its version of Comedian had already exchanged hands privately before headlining last night’s auction.