In the same week in which Sotheby’s auction house sold a $65 million Claude Monet painting, it was a multimillion-dollar banana duct-taped to a wall that stole the show. The work, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was unveiled at Art Basel in Miami in 2019, where it was promptly eaten by performance artist David Datuna. At another exhibition at Seoul’s Leeum Museum of Art in 2023, the banana was eaten again.
The value of the artwork doesn’t depend on the banana, which is frequently refreshed by the artwork’s owner as it decays. Instead, the piece is valuable because of the intention of the artist, and his certificate of authenticity. And Cattelan has made it clear he does not see the piece as a laughing matter.
“To me, Comedian was not a joke; it was a sincere commentary and a reflection on what we value,” he told the Art Newspaper in 2021. Since its first exhibition in 2019, Comedian has become a symbol of provocation against the traditional art world. As Sotheby’s head of contemporary art for the Americas, David Galperin put it: “Cattelan’s Comedian is about the conditions that characterize our understanding of what makes something art—and one of those conditions is value,” Galperin said in a statement. Yet for its young crypto buyer, it may also just be a bit of fun.
Justin Sun, the Chinese founder of the Tron blockchain and a cryptocurrency by the same name, outbid six other contenders Wednesday for the piece, titled Comedian. Although the pre-bidding estimate put the value of the work at $1.5 million, according to Sotheby’s, Sun dropped $6.2 million (including $1 million in fees) for the piece. In the coming days he plans to make a meal out of the famous artwork.
“I am honored to be the proud owner of this iconic work and look forward to it sparking further inspiration and impact for art enthusiasts around the world. Additionally, in the coming days, I will personally eat the banana as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place in both art history and popular culture,” Sun said in a statement. In a post on X Thursday, he summed up the purchase more succinctly: “Bananas,” he wrote.
Yet just because he plans to eat it, doesn’t mean the multimillion-dollar work will be worth nothing. As part of the sale, Sun will receive a roll of duct tape, a banana, and most important a certificate of authenticity, Business Insider reported. Although some, like the New York Post, have been able to re-create the artwork for less than $6, none can call their copycats Comedian, unless they have the certificate of authenticity.
