Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019), an artwork that comprises a fresh banana duct-taped to a wall with three editions, will be on the auction block at Sotheby’s contemporary evening art auction in New York on 20 November. The artwork’s estimate sits at an astounding US$1-$1.5 million (AU$1.52-2.28 million) and comes with an undisclosed guarantee (meaning the artwork will sell at a minimum reserve price even if no one bids on it).
Some Australian audiences may be familiar with the controversial piece, which was included in the National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) 2023 Triennial and evoked an array of responses that ultimately challenged the idea of ‘value’ from an artistic, cultural and monetary perspective. When the work was first shown at Perrotin at Art Basel Miami in 2019, it instantly captured the attention of fair visitors, with reactions ranging from viral Instagram memes to taking it off the wall and eating it (more than once).
