Tape-glued banana: the famous exhibit was put up for auction

>>/Sotheby's

An extraordinary work by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was exhibited at the Sotheby's auction. It is called “The Comedian” and represents a banana taped to the wall.

It is estimated to be at least a million dollars. Bloomberg writes about it.

When the artist Maurizio Cattelan glued a fresh banana to the wall at the 2019 Art Basel exhibition in Miami, it initially caused outrage. Later, “The Comedian” became so popular that due to the crowds of visitors, the gallery was forced to remove Cattelan's work.

The artist made three versions of the installation, for which he bought bananas from a local supermarket. One was sold by the Guggenheim Museum for $150,000, and the other two were bought by private collectors for $120,000. Five years later, one of the installations, which was in a private collection, was put up for auction.

We are dealing not only with one of the most important and significant works of art that [Cattelan] ever created. This is truly one of the most talked about works, says David Halperin, head of Sotheby's America's contemporary art department. that it will provoke many discussions and dialogues around the concept of value in art.

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Anyone who purchases “The Comedian” will receive a certificate of authenticity, which gives the right to display the work of art and explains how to do it correctly. In addition, the winner of the auction will receive a roll of adhesive tape and a banana. They can be replaced as needed.

Tape-glued banana

Before the exhibit is put up for auction, Sotheby's will conduct a world tour with it – they will visit New York, London, Paris, Milan, Hong Kong, Dubai, Taipei, Tokyo and Los Angeles.

More about the creation of the exhibit:

Maurizio Cattelan worked on the idea of ​​the installation for about a year – every time during his travels, the artist glued a banana to the wall of the hotel room where he was staying. I thought about making a banana out of resin and bronze, then a banana painted with bronze paint, but in the end I woke up with the idea that a banana should be a banana.

Every detail of the “Comedian” is thought out – right down to the angle of the banana. And the bananas themselves symbolize international trade, a double meaning and a classic device for humor.