Andy Warhol reportedly once said that when it comes to art, “Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more.”
A piece of artwork called “Comedian” has had people “deciding” (sometimes angrily) since it debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019. “Comedian” is just a banana stuck to the wall by a piece of silver duct tape placed 160 centimeters high from the floor.
Related: Someone Ate That Banana Art Exhibit Again, This Time While It Was in a Museum
The piece has been “passionately debated, rhapsodically venerated, and hotly contested – and eaten not only once, but twice,” Sotheby’s writes on its website.
It was estimated to sell for $1.5 million, but artist Maurizio Cattelan managed to peel off a couple of extra bucks. Chinese collector and founder of cryptocurrency platform TRON Justin Sun placed the winning bid for the banana for $6.24 million on Wednesday.
Commenting on his new purchase, Sun told Sotheby’s, “When I first heard about this work back in 2019, I thought it was pure genius. And when I heard it was back on the market, I knew I had to have it. Cattelan’s [humor] and sense of adventure strike a strong chord with me, and I’m thrilled to now be its proud owner.”
In a video announcing the auction, Lucius Elliot, head of contemporary marquee sales at Sotheby’s, says that after the piece went viral, the debate began “whether this is art, whether it is a prank” or it is a symbol highlighting the “excess of the art market.”
Sotheby’s told NBC that Cattelan “single-handedly prompted the world to reconsider how we define art, and the value we seek in it.”
Because Warhol also once said, “Art is anything you can get away with.”
