Nov 20, 2024 - Business

Banana taped to wall sells at auction for $6.24 million

Ben Berkowitz

A person walks past "Comedian", an artwork featuring a banana taped to a wall. — Artist Maurizio Cattelan's "Comedian," featuring a banana taped to a wall. John Nacion/Getty Images

"Comedian," Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's piece that features a single banana duct-taped to a wall, sold at auction Wednesday night for $6.24 million, auction house Sotheby's said.

Why it matters: The controversial work first sold in 2019 for $120,000, and Sotheby's had estimated Wednesday's sale at $1 million to $1.5 million.

Catch up quick: "Comedian" debuted at Art Basel Miami in 2019 and caused a stir over the nature of art and commentary.

The work is simply a banana from a grocery store, taped to a wall.
The gallery owner who exhibited the fruit called it a "symbol of global trade."
Cattelan later successfully defended a suit from another fruit-taping artist accusing him of copyright infringement.

By the numbers: The monthly average retail price for a pound of bananas was 57.4 cents nearly five years ago and now stands at 61.7 cents, according to the USDA.

That's an increase of 7.5%.
The price of a banana taped to a wall has now risen 5,100%.

Zoom in: Artnet reported that crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun was the buyer.

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Banana taped to wall sells at auction for $6.24 million

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