Buy bananas for cheap while you can, because tomorrow, just one might cost $6.2 million.
No, it's not inflation. It’s art.
Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian or more famously known as the meme of the banana duct–taped to a wall, was sold for $6.2 million on Nov. 21 at the Sotheby’s auction house in New York City. Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, placed the winning bid—$5.2 million (excluding $1 million in auction–house fees)—on the highly contested “art” piece.
This is not the first time the banana has been sold. It first made its debut in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Beach, the international art fair. Among the exceptional works, Comedian caught the crowd's attention. There, three different versions were sold of the banana, all between $120,000 and $150,000.
The banana caused such a stir in Miami it was removed from the premises of the event for safety concerns.
Cattelan is the artist (or as he likes to call himself, an “art worker”) behind the amusement, anger, and possibly greatest fruit of labor ever. The 64–year–old Italian is famous—or arguably infamous—for his artworks that challenge people and systems of the art realm.
He even created a fully functional toilet made of gold and titled it America. The White House was planning on putting a Van Gogh, but went with the toilet instead.
As for his Comedian, Cattelan describes it as “a laugh against a tired system, an invitation to rediscover the power of irony and simplicity.” Cattelan points out that the attention brought to Comedian is “a sincere commentary and a reflection on what we value.” And millionaires don’t fail to prove him wrong.
To be clear, the rights to the artwork, to replace the banana and duct tape, is what’s being sold. So, Sun paid $6.2 million for a take–home certificate and an owner’s how–to manual.
However, what makes his duct–taped banana different from any average duct–taped banana is that it's an original artwork by Maurizio Cattelan.
Hopefully for Sun, his $6.2 million banana tasted better than the grocery–store ones. I mean, he had a watch party of him eating it. As he humbly announced on X, “The banana will be eaten on November 29, 2024, at 2:00 PM GMT+8. Stay tuned.” Sun claimed he “could discern a hint of what Big Mike bananas from 100 years ago might have tasted like.”
By the way, for my fans, I will be eating a banana at 5:17 p.m. EST on Dec. 13 after my BEPP midterm. Stay tuned.
This costly piece of fruit begs the question: Where did the banana even come from? Well, luckily for those curious after the auction, they didn’t have to look further than the banana stand in front of Sotheby’s. The million–dollar banana, like every banana at Mohammad R. Islam’s stand, was sold for 35–cents.
Shah Alam, who, unbeknownst to him, sold the million–dollar banana, is a 74–year–old Bangladeshi man who works at Islam’s stand. He is at the stand for 48 hours every week and is paid just $12 an hour. So that’s why when he found out a banana he sold was bought for $6.2 million, he cried, “Those who bought it, what kind of people are they?” “Do they not know what a banana is?”
Justin Sun, moved by Mr. Alam’s reaction, tweeted he would buy 100,000 bananas or $25,000 worth of bananas from Islam’s stand. Unfortunately, as Mr. Alam stated, "there's not any profit in selling bananas." Rather, Sun’s purchase would amount to $6,000 and be split among the stand owners and its seven employees.
Sun also plans to freely distribute his 100,000 bananas for anybody who shows a valid ID.
Fortunately, these overt efforts have brought quieter, more impactful initiatives to support Islam’s banana stand—online fundraisers have collected around $20,000 for Mr. Alam. At least part of the ridiculousness of this multimillion–dollar auction is being returned to those who need it most.
So what does this banana and the Internet sensation it's created mean for the art world? Have artists (and rich people) gotten bored? Perhaps, the banana isn’t the Comedian, but we are. After all, it’s not the fruit that’s funny, it's the absurdity of our culture.
One thing this banana has successfully done is challenge us to question how we perceive art and the value we derive from it. Because, if people are willing to pay 15 million times the amount of money for a 35–cent banana in the name of art, what has art become?
