Banana Taped to Wall Sells for $6.2 Million
A unique artwork by Maurizio Cattelan, which features a banana taped to a wall, has sold for an incredible $6.2 million (£4.9 million) at Sotheby’s in New York.
This price is four times higher than what was expected. The winning bidder was Justin Sun, a Chinese entrepreneur in cryptocurrency, who outbid six others to buy the piece called “Comedian.”
Sun said he plans to eat the banana soon as part of this artistic experience. The banana, now one of the most expensive fruits ever sold, was bought earlier that day for just $0.35, according to the New York Times.
The artwork was first shown to the public in 2019 and quickly went viral, sparking debates about what art really is. It has traveled around the world and comes with instructions on how to replace the banana when it rots.
Interestingly, the banana has been eaten twice: in 2023, a South Korean art student took a bite while it was displayed at the Leeum Museum of Art, which then replaced it. Four years earlier, a performance artist removed the banana after it sold for $120,000 at Art Basel in Miami, but no further action was taken.
Justin Sun runs the Tron blockchain network, which helps with cryptocurrency transactions. Last year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused him of fraud, claiming he falsely inflated trading volumes of TRX, the token for Tron, which he denies.
-NYT
