“One million two hundred thousand. One million five hundred thousand. Five million dollars.”
In Sotheby’s New York auction house, the numbers ring out in steady succession. Bidder assistants dutifully relay the growing offers to bidders across the world. Meanwhile, a mix of seasoned collectors, curious onlookers, and skeptics lean forward in their seats. Some furrow their eyebrows in concentration; others exchange smirks, stifling laughter. Cameras flash as journalists capture the scene, well aware that this is no ordinary auction.
The object at the center of this surreal spectacle? A banana, adhered to the wall by a strip of silver duct tape. Gesturing towards the fresh fruit, the auctioneer lets out a chuckle. “Don’t let it slip away!”
On November 20th, 2024, ‘Comedian,’ a conceptual artwork created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, sold for 5.2 million dollars at a Sotheby’s auction. With fees included, the piece would be valued at 6.2 million dollars.
Who is Maurizio Cattelan?
Maurizio Cattelan was born in Padua, Italy in 1960, and never received a formal art education. Instead, he majored in sociology at the University of Trento. As a self-taught artist, he embodies the freedom of a true conceptual creator – unbound by specific traditional mediums or a singular theme.
Cattelan is often characterized as the “court jest” of the art world, having a unique ability to “mock and shock” with mischievously humorous, often macabre, commentary on the art world and our common social values.
His works often include satiric and performative elements, whether it be in the form of a sculpture, an object, or a person. Cattelan has duct-taped his art dealer to a gallery wall and once installed a gold toilet at the Guggenheim. In 2001, he created a hyperrealistic sculpture of a kneeling Adolf Hitler, a pose suggestive of seeking forgiveness. The work was installed such that the sculpture faced away from viewers. Thus, from behind, it was easily mistaken for a little boy in prayer. The compassionate depiction of Hitler in contrition was controversial, with audiences believing that his unforgivable legacy should remain taboo.
Cattelan himself also struggled to produce the work. ““I wanted to destroy it myself. I changed my mind a thousand times, every day. Hitler is pure fear; it’s an image of terrible pain. It even hurts to pronounce his name,” he said. Despite this, the sculpture was completed, speaking to Cattelan’s commitment to holding up a mirror to society and forcing viewers to face their most troubling pasts, presents, and futures.
The Comedian’s Debut
The banana had been purchased from a local fruit stand situated outside of Sotheby’s. Mr. Shah Alam, who is a 74-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh, has been running his stand for over a decade to support his family. That morning, he had sold the banana for 35 cents, unaware that his Dole banana’s value would multiply by almost twenty million dollars by the day’s end.
Justin Sun, a young crypto entrepreneur, placed the winning bid from Hong Kong. Sun is the founder of Tron, a cryptocurrency. Last year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged him with the unregistered sale of crypto asset securities and for engaging in manipulative practices to falsely inflate investor interest in his digital currencies. Originally from China, Sun holds Grenadian citizenship and previously served as Grenada’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization. He continues to use the title “His Excellency” on Tron’s website. In interviews, he has shared that his interest in the cryptocurrency industry began while studying at the University of Pennsylvania.
Just moments after securing the piece, Sun shocked the room by walking up to the artwork, peeling the banana off the wall, and eating it. Despite consuming the banana, Sun maintained ownership of the piece, as the artwork’s certificate of authenticity and concept — not the physical fruit — are what holds its value. According to Sun, “This is not just an artwork; 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.”
Since its 2019 debut at the Art Basel in Miami, Cattelan has already sold three copies of the banana. The first copy sold for $120,000, and the second for a similar price of $150,000. Catelan produces a certificate of authenticity and an owner’s manual containing a detailed diagram complete with geometric measurements. The certificate outlines that the owner is permitted to refresh the banana when it rots.
Although Catelan had received a cut from the previous purchases of The Comedian, he was not compensated for Sun’s purchase, as it had been sold by a third-party collector. Nevertheless, the artist had expressed great enthusiasm for the purchase. In an e-mail, Catelan had said, “Honestly, I feel fantastic. The auction has turned what began as a statement in Basel into an even more absurd global spectacle. In that way, the work becomes self-reflexive: the higher the price, the more it reinforces its original concept.”
What was the original concept?
Comedian was created to explore the fragile, and often arbitrary, nature of value within the art world, questioning how an ordinary object could be elevated to an iconic status through nothing more than context and interpretation. Cattelan designed the piece to mirror society’s obsession with spectacle and consumerism, allowing it to evolve into a meta-commentary on the art world itself as its price — and controversy — skyrocketed.
Cattelan often uses his works to challenge societal norms, question the boundaries of art, and confront the absurdities of modern life. He is well known for blending humor with biting social critique — his pieces often take mundane objects or irreverent concepts and elevate them into high art, forcing viewers to grapple with their own perceptions. From the infamous gold-plated toilet titled America, which satirized wealth and privilege, to his suspended taxidermy animals, Cattelan’s works push audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about power, consumerism, and mortality.
His art highlights how much the art world relies on perception, hype, and speculation to dictate value rather than intrinsic qualities. This same fragility now mirrors the declining art market, where economic pressures and a growing skepticism toward inflated prices have left collectors, investors, and art auction houses in a struggle.
“The art market has been flat for more than 10 years, regardless of stock prices, interest rates and inflation environments,” said Roman Kräussl, a professor of finance at Bayes Business School in London, who specializes in research on art as an asset class. He continued, “It seems like the art market has lost its momentum, its hype, its must-haveness.”
The reasons behind the art market’s downturn are clear. As a critic for Time Magazine describes it, we have been in “the ultimate election year,” with elections happening in dozens of countries, fostering economic uncertainty and caution. High interest rates and persistent inflation are weighing heavily on buyers, while ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East contribute to a constant sense of crisis. Wealthy Russian collectors, once major players in the market, are no longer purchasing, and the market is feeling the strain of oversaturation. After a buying frenzy in 2020 and 2021 that drove prices to unsustainable levels, many collectors are stepping back.
In America, some analysts anticipated that Donald J. Trump’s presidential victory might boost the art market, especially after seeing stock prices, cryptocurrencies, and the dollar rise shortly after his win. However, aside from a few standout moments — most notably Sotheby’s and Christie’s estate auctions of prominent collectors Sydell Miller and Mica Ertegun — bidding was generally restrained, with most works selling within their estimated ranges. High-profile pieces, like Henri Matisse’s 1920s portrait of a woman in a feathered headdress estimated at $12 million, failed to sell altogether.
The election appeared to have minimal impact on the art market overall. Interestingly, however, the post-election surge in cryptocurrency values brought new, younger bidders into the mix. Several of these bidders competed for Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian. At least three of the seven bidders for the duct-taped banana, including eventual buyer Justin Sun, were cryptocurrency investors. One underbidder, Bob Liu, credited the crypto rally for enabling him to compete, explaining that he represented a group of 22,000 investors who had formed a new cryptocurrency inspired by the artwork. Cryptocurrency also played a role in other sales, such as Keith Haring’s collection of 31 subway graffiti drawings, which fetched $9.2 million at Sotheby’s.
With both supply and demand for high-end art declining, auction houses are shifting their focus to luxury goods and exclusive experiences to offset the downturn. Sotheby’s website now offers numerous opportunities to purchase pre-owned luxury items, either through auction or “instant purchase,” similar to a retail store. These range from real estate, classic cars, and dinosaur fossils to smaller high-end collectibles like designer handbags, jewelry, fine wines, and game-worn NBA jerseys. According to the companies’ communications teams, luxury accounted for about 33% of Sotheby’s sales last year, compared to 16% at Christie’s. However, for both, the luxury category drew more buyers than art.
Cattelan often uses his works to challenge societal norms, question the boundaries of art, and confront the absurdities of modern life. He is well known for blending humor with biting social critique — his pieces often take mundane objects or irreverent concepts and elevate them into high art, forcing viewers to grapple with their own perceptions. From the infamous gold-plated toilet titled America, which satirized wealth and privilege, to his suspended taxidermy animals, Cattelan’s works push audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about power, consumerism, and mortality.