A banana duct-taped to a white wall — or an acclaimed piece of artwork, relying the way you have a look at it — bought at a Sotheby’s public sale for $6.24 million Wednesday.
Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian” is solely a banana caught to the wall with a strip of silver duct tape precisely 160 centimeters from the ground.
The paintings debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019 and was initially estimated to promote for $1.5 million, in line with Sotheby’s.
Art Basel shortly needed to take the banana off the wall due to the crowds it drew, because it was prompting concern for the opposite featured artworks, artwork critic Nancy Durrant mentioned in a Sotheby’s video in regards to the piece of artwork.
It was the primary artwork truthful Cattelan was included in for 15 years, and it was the “announcement as a brand new authentic work by Maurizio Cattelan that captured the world’s consideration instantly,” mentioned David Galperin, Sotheby’s head of latest artwork for the Americas.
At one level, somebody even took the banana off the wall and ate it.
Sotheby’s mentioned the work “belongs to the uncommon league of artworks that want no introduction,” because it “shortly erupted right into a viral world sensation that drew file crowds, social media inundation, landed the quilt of The New York Post, and divided viewers and critics alike.”
“Comedian” has been “passionately debated, rhapsodically honored, and hotly contested,” in line with Sotheby’s, because it made worldwide headlines, “turning into probably the most talked-about paintings of the century.”
The debut of “Comedian” triggered commotion and true pandemonium, in line with consultants featured within the Sotheby’s video in regards to the paintings.
It additionally made “lots of people very indignant,” Durrant mentioned.
The response to the banana blew up on-line, as information shops debated “whether or not that is artwork, whether or not it’s a prank, whether or not it’s a image of the surplus of the artwork market,” Lucius Elliot, head of latest marquee gross sales at Sotheby’s, mentioned within the video.
He added: “In reality, it’s, after all, all of these issues.”
Cattelan’s humorousness and use of comedy in his work — which set him aside as an artist, Durrant mentioned — are clear in “Comedian.”
Experts agreed that the paintings is supposed to be humorous, however they mentioned it additionally pokes at some holes within the artwork world, just like the idea that trendy artwork might be absurd.
For instance, Cattelan “is presenting a piece that mocks the very notion of artwork having this diploma of worth,” Elliot mentioned, including that whereas it’s only a banana and duct tape, “it is worth is in its conceptual heft.”
“The essential factor to learn about Maurizio is that his jokes are critical and his critical work is humorous,” Dodie Kazanjian, an editor for Vogue, mentioned within the video, including, “There’s one thing very deep in what Maurizio does, so the veneer of it would seem like a banana, however there’s one thing else all the time on the core of what he’s saying.”
According to Sotheby’s, Cattelan “single-handedly prompted the world to rethink how we outline artwork, and the worth we search in it.”
Emmanuel Perrotin, founding father of Perrotin, the gallery the place “Comedian” was first proven, mentioned he known as a shopper the day earlier than the banana’s debut providing the shopper an opportunity to purchase the paintings at an undisclosed value. The shopper turned him down, however three days later, Perrotin obtained a message from somebody providing to purchase “Comedian” for seven instances the worth he initially supplied his shopper.
“Imagine the change of notion created by the way in which it was obtained by the viewers,” Perrotin mentioned.
As Galperin put it, “There is not any higher discussion board to adjudicate the worth of artwork and a single object than the platform of public sale.”