That viral banana channel taped to a wall? It just sold for $6.2 million

Artist Maurizio CattelanThe viral duct tape banana sold for a total of $6.2 million. The piece called Comediansoared past its pre-auction estimate of $1.5 million at a Sotheby’s auction on Wednesday.

The banana “transcends geography, language, understanding and cultural differences,” says David Galperin, head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s. WashingtonPost‘s Ashley Fetters Maloy after the auction. And the high price tag it came with “speaks to its universality, the way it cuts through the cultural zeitgeist right to the center,” he added.

Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun beat out six other collectors after a five-minute bidding war for the piece. He gets the banana, plus a certificate of authenticity and installation instructions in case he decides to replace the fruit once it rots.

For sun, Comedian symbolizes “a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes and the cryptocurrency community,” he says in a statement. Now that the piece is officially his, he says he plans to “personally eat the banana as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place in both art history and popular culture.”

The artwork – a yellow banana tube taped to a white wall exactly 160 centimeters (63 inches) above the ground – has been a controversial conversation starter since it debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019.

The piece attracted a large audience at the art fair and at one point was even ripped off the wall and eaten by performance artist David Datuna. (In 2023, a university student ate the banana again while it was on display at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul.) The banana went viral online and ended up on the cover of the New York Post. Three versions of the banana each sold for $120,000 to $150,000; one was later donated anonymously to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Cattelan has been described as a “provocateur,”A”joker” and a “poseur joker.” His previous works include a fully functioning 18-carat gold toilet called Americaand a sculpture of the Pope being crushed by a supposed meteorite La Nona Ora.

According to Cattelan Comedian is “not a joke” but rather a “sincere commentary and reflection on what we value,” as he said Art newspaper‘s Gareth Harris in 2021. He hoped the piece would “break normal viewing habits and open a discussion about what really matters,” he told the publication.

The most expensive banana in the world: Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘comedian’ sells for $6.2 million | Sotheby’s

The banana sold at the auction this week was purchased earlier that same day for 35 cents at a fruit stand on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, reports the New York Times‘Zacharias Klein.

But Sun didn’t just buy a piece of potassium-rich fruit. He paid for the ‘story of Comedianthe publicity and his own version of how he wants to be seen as a collector, which are seemingly invaluable,” Melanie Gerlis, art market columnist and author, told the Guardianby Tim Jonze.

“For many people, the idea of ​​paying anything more than the value of paint on canvas is mind-boggling,” she says Guardian. “And yet there are plenty of people in the art world elite who spend thousands and even millions on paintings. Cattelan pushes this idea to its logical conclusion.”