In 2019, a wall- mounted banana artwork titled “Comedian” sold for $120,000. At that time the social media debate started, and once again the debate about what art should be. Sotheby’s recently announced that the artwork is now up for sale once again and can fetch up to $1.5 million.
This “comedian” is a conceptual piece by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan that uses duct tape to stick bananas to the wall. One of the three versions is now available for sale, this time expected to cost between $1 and $1.5 million.
In return for this amount, the buyer will receive a roll of duct tape, a banana, along with an official certificate and installation instructions. As the artwork is conceptual, the actual physical elements may be substituted, a Sotheby’s spokeswoman said.
In 2019, the Catalan and French art gallery Perrotin put the artwork up for sale at the Art Basel Miami Beach exhibition. At the time, the artwork was made using bananas purchased from a Miami retail store, but could be substituted at the artist’s suggestion.
Many seminars were held on the world of art. Some experts have linked the origins of this artwork to the conceptual art tradition. The artwork attracted public attention, drawing crowds to many exhibitions.
The incident took a new turn when performance artist David Datuna took a banana off the wall and ate it. He supported the act and saw it as part of presenting his own art.
All three versions were sold at the Art Basel exhibition. Two private buyers bought them for $120,000 each, while the third edition was donated to the Guggenheim Museum. Sotheby’s did not disclose the name of the seller of the version currently available for sale, but noted that the work’s current owner bought it from the original buyer’s collection.
This popular artwork of 2019 will once again be put on display. The artwork will be exhibited at the auction on November 20 at Sotheby’s headquarters in New York.