In the identical week during which Sotheby’s public sale home bought a $65 million Claude Monet portray, it was a multimillion-dollar banana duct-taped to a wall that stole the present.
The work, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was unveiled at Artwork Basel in Miami in 2019, the place it was promptly eaten by efficiency artist David Datuna. At one other exhibition at Seoul’s Leeum Museum of Artwork in 2023, the banana was eaten once more.
The worth of the paintings doesn’t rely on the banana, which is incessantly refreshed by the paintings’s proprietor because it decays. As an alternative, the piece is effective due to the intention of the artist, and his certificates of authenticity. And Cattelan has made it clear he doesn’t see the piece as a laughing matter.
“To me, Comedian was not a joke; it was a sincere commentary and a reflection on what we value,” he advised the Artwork Newspaper in 2021.
Since its first exhibition in 2019, Comic has turn into an emblem of provocation in opposition to the standard artwork world. As Sotheby’s head of up to date artwork for the Americas, David Galperin put it:
“Cattelan’s Comedian is about the conditions that characterize our understanding of what makes something art—and one of those conditions is value,” Galperin mentioned in an announcement.
But for its younger crypto purchaser, it might additionally simply be a little bit of enjoyable.
Justin Solar, the Chinese language founding father of the Tron blockchain and a cryptocurrency by the identical title, outbid six different contenders Wednesday for the piece, titled Comic. Though the pre-bidding estimate put the worth of the work at $1.5 million, based on Sotheby’s, Solar dropped $6.2 million (together with $1 million in charges) for the piece.
Within the coming days he plans to make a meal out of the well-known paintings.
“I am honored to be the proud owner of this iconic work and look forward to it sparking further inspiration and impact for art enthusiasts around the world. Additionally, in the coming days, I will personally eat the banana as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place in both art history and popular culture,” Solar mentioned in an announcement.
In a put up on X Thursday, he summed up the acquisition extra succinctly: “Bananas,” he wrote.
Bananas
— H.E. Justin Solar 🍌 (@justinsuntron) November 21, 2024
But simply because he plans to eat it, doesn’t imply the multimillion-dollar work can be value nothing. As a part of the sale, Solar will obtain a roll of duct tape, a banana, and most necessary a certificates of authenticity, Enterprise Insider reported.
Though some, just like the New York Publish, have been in a position to re-create the paintings for lower than $6, none can name their copycats Comic, until they’ve the certificates of authenticity.
Solar will obtain a 14-page handbook on learn how to refresh the piece, the Wall Avenue Journal reported, with particular directions on what course the banana ought to face (at all times to the appropriate); what peak it needs to be taped at (eye stage); and what orientation the banana ought to keep away from (a horizontal place).
Whereas he mentioned he plans to eat the banana, Solar’s posts on X Thursday counsel the crypto bro could also be prepared to make an exception—if SpaceX CEO Elon Musk desires to as a substitute take the paintings on an interstellar journey.
“I’m willing to donate my banana to Elon Musk, tape it to the body of a SpaceX rocket, and send it to both Mars and the Moon,” he wrote.
