“Comedian” (2019) is undoubtedly one of the most controversial artworks of the past decade. One of the three editions of this piece will soon be auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York, with a starting price of $1 million!
It’s been just five years since Maurizio Cattelan’s taped banana caused an uproar at Art Basel Miami Beach, quickly becoming a symbol of the absurdity in the contemporary art market. While Cattelan described Comedian (2019), his first “sculpture” in 15 years, as a “sincere commentary and reflection on what we value,” this “value” will once again be tested next month when one of the three editions of Comedian goes up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York.
This artwork, made of a banana taped to a wall, includes a certificate of authenticity and guidelines for displaying the piece. Initially priced at $120,000 by the Perrotin gallery at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019, Sotheby’s now estimates it may sell for between $1 million and $1.5 million. A single banana and a roll of duct tape…yes, that’s what we’re talking about.
“If Comedian fundamentally questions the concept of the value of art, then putting it up for auction this November will be the ultimate realization of this conceptual idea—allowing the public to finally weigh in on its true worth,” said David Galperin, head of contemporary art in the Americas at Sotheby’s. Upon its debut, the piece caused a frenzy: crowds lined up at the Perrotin stand to view it, and within days, it made the front page of the New York Post, which declared, “the art world has gone bananas.” After the banana was eaten twice, it had to be removed before the fair ended due to “uncontrollable crowd movements,” Perrotin noted at the time. All three editions of Comedian sold at the fair, with one bought by Sarah Andelman, founder of Colette, another by Miami collectors William and Beatrice Cox, and a third by an anonymous buyer.
Comedian is part of modern/contemporary art history, joining other conceptually daring masterpieces that have redefined what art can be. It perhaps all began with Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, a porcelain urinal flipped, mounted on a pedestal, and signed in 1917. Or consider Robert Rauschenberg’s Erased de Kooning Drawing from 1953, where one renowned artist erased another’s work to challenge the notion of artistic originality. Damien Hirst’s formaldehyde-preserved shark from 1991 is another example, as is Banksy’s Love is in the Bin, which famously shredded itself in real-time after being sold at Sotheby’s in 2018, creating an entirely new artwork.
Comedian will be auctioned again at Sotheby’s The Now and Contemporary sale on November 20 and will be on public display in New York starting Monday. It will then be exhibited in London, Paris, Milan, Hong Kong, Dubai, Taipei, Tokyo, and Los Angeles.