A controversial piece artwork titled ‘Comedian’ is expected sell for more than £1 million at auction – despite being a banana duct taped to the canvas.
The work by Maurizio Cattelan divided art fans and critics when it made its debut at the Art Basel Miami Beach show in 2019, and has since been eaten twice, once as part of a performance art piece called Hungry Artist, and then by a hungry student who taped the peel back to the wall.
It is expected to sell for between £771,275 and £1.2 million when it goes on sale at Sotheby’s Now and Contemporary Evening Auction in New York on November 20.
Prior to the auction, the work will embark on a world tour starting with a one-off exhibition in New York on October 28, before heading to London, Paris, Milan, Hong Kong, Dubai, Taipei, Tokyo, and Los Angeles.
The Comedian will return to New York from November 8 until November 20 before it is auctioned.
Speaking about the piece, David Galperin, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art for the Americas, said: ‘The most influential and radical artworks of the last century have had the power to fundamentally shift perceptions around the nature of art itself.
‘In this spirit, Comedian is a defiant work of pure genius. Balancing profound critical thought and subversive wit, this is a defining work for the artist and for our generation.’
“With a single brilliant gesture, Cattelan rocked the foundations of the art world, and brought art to the centre of mainstream popular culture.
‘If at its core, Comedian questions the very notion of the value of art, then putting the work at auction this November will be the ultimate realisation of its essential conceptual idea – the public will finally have a say in deciding its true value. Whatever your take on it, you won’t want to miss the sensation of the season.’
Comedian follows similar works such as Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, a porcelain urinal turned over, mounted on a pedestal, and signed with a pseudonym in 1917, in an attempt to redefine what art could be.
In an interview with The Art Newspaper, Cattelan said of the work: ‘To me, Comedian was not a joke, it was a sincere commentary and a reflection on what we value.
‘At art fairs, speed and business reign, so I saw it like this, if I had to be at a fair, I could sell a banana like others sell their paintings. I could play within the system, but with my rules.’
After being unveiled in 2019, the work featured on the cover of The New York Post and had to be removed from display before the end of the Art Basel fair due to the large crowds it drew.
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It was conceived in an edition of three, plus two artist proofs, with one example held in the collection of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Comedian’s creator, Cattelan has been working since the 1980s, and is also known for works such as Love Lasts Forever (1997), Him (2001) and America (2016).
Cattelan achieved his auction record with Him, which sold for £13 million in 2016.
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