Finance & Business

Author: anonymDate: 2024-11-21 10:48:46

Maurizio Cattelan's comedic banana artwork, secured with adhesive tape, fetched a price near $10 million.

The banana was sold for nearly $10 million at an auction

A conceptual artwork—a banana affixed to a wall with tape—was sold for $US6.2 million ($9.57 million) at a New York auction. Comedian, created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, caused a sensation at its 2019 Art Basel Miami Beach debut, prompting viewers to question if the single yellow fruit attached to a white wall with silver tape was a jest or a pointed critique of art collectors' questionable standards. At one point, another artist, David Datuna, removed the banana and consumed it. He faced no consequences, and the artwork was replaced. The piece garnered immense attention, leading to its removal from public view, though three editions sold for between $US120,000 and $US150,000, according to the gallery managing sales at that time.

Five years later, someone paid over 40 times that amount at Sotheby's, exceeding estimates of $US1 million. To be precise, they purchased a certificate of authenticity granting them the right to tape a banana to a wall and label it Comedian. Bidding began at $US800,000 and swiftly climbed to $US2 million, then $US3 million, then $US4 million, as the auctioneer quipped, "It's vanishing before our eyes." The final price in the room was $US5.2 million, excluding approximately $US1 million in auction house fees, borne by the purchaser. Sotheby's refers to Cattelan as "among Contemporary Art's most inventive instigators". "He has consistently challenged the art world's norms in significant, irreverent, and frequently controversial ways," stated the auction house in its artwork description.

Millions spent on art

This sale followed a Belgian surrealist René Magritte painting selling for $US121.2 million—a record for the artist—at a separate auction. The Empire of Light, a haunting nocturnal streetscape beneath a pale blue daytime sky, sold on Tuesday as part of Christie's auction of the collection of interior designer Mica Ertegun, who passed away last year at age 97. This sale elevates Magritte among artists whose works have surpassed $US100 million at auction. Magritte joins the 16th position in this exclusive group, which includes Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol, according to market analysis firm Artprice. The Empire of Light, completed in 1954, was one of 17 renditions of the same scene painted by Magritte in oil. Marc Porter, chairman of Christie's Americas, termed the sale "a landmark event in our auction house". The $US121.2 million price included the auction house's fees. The buyer, a telephone bidder, remained anonymous.