When a banana becomes the centerpiece of an extraordinary $6.2 million auction, the divides between everyday life and high art become blatantly clear.
At a Glance
- Shah Alam, a fruit vendor, sold a banana that became part of Maurizio Cattelan’s artwork “Comedian,” later auctioned for $6.2 million.
- Entrepreneur Justin Sun purchased the artwork at Sotheby’s, planning to eat the banana.
- The artwork, involving a banana duct-taped to a wall, was first sold at Art Basel in 2019.
- Alam, shocked by the banana’s price, lives modestly and works long hours for $12 an hour.
The Banality of a Fruit Transformed
Shah Alam, a humble fruit vendor on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, unknowingly sold a 35-cent banana that skyrocketed into the art world for $6.2 million. This banana later starred in Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian,” a duct-taped fruit art installation that made global headlines.
Initially displayed at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019, the daring piece sold for $120,000 to $150,000 per edition. Italian artist Cattelan, known for provocative art, crafted “Comedian,” while reveling in its escalating notoriety. However, Alam, the 74-year-old fruit vendor from Bangladesh, was left baffled and emotional upon learning the banana’s newfound worth at Sotheby’s auction.
A banana duct-taped to a wall — a conceptual artwork by Maurizio Cattelan titled "Comedian" — sold to a crypto entrepreneur for $6.2 million with fees at Sotheby's contemporary art auction on Wednesday. https://t.co/bSewDkCv72 pic.twitter.com/0iFHxPrSZ9
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 21, 2024
A Bidding War Unleashed
The auction at Sotheby’s stirred fierce competition, with bids starting at $800,000 and rapidly climbing, eventually bought by cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun. Mr. Sun, intent on immortalizing the piece, plans to eat the banana while celebrating its place in both art and popular culture.
Meanwhile, Alam, earning $12 an hour and working long shifts, was quoted as saying, “I am a poor man, I have never had this kind of money; I have never seen this kind of money.”
This ordinary banana, duct-taped to a white wall, sold at an art auction for $6.2 million.
The banana is reigniting the debate about what value society is willing to place on normal objects because an artist calls it art.
🎥 Watch more: https://t.co/l1KJbOqBjQ pic.twitter.com/oYoX7hDAEu
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) November 21, 2024
The Broader Art Market Context
Amid a frenzy over “Comedian,” Sotheby’s showcased Cattelan as a provocative contemporary artist. The controversial purchase followed a record-setting $121.2 million sale of René Magritte’s painting “The Empire of Light.”
Despite criticisms, Mr. Cattelan was elated, and said, “Honestly, I feel fantastic. The auction has turned what began as a statement in Basel into an even more absurd global spectacle. In that way, the work becomes self-reflexive: The higher the price, the more it reinforces its original concept.”
