Sotheby's sells Cattelan's banana artwork for 6.2 mn (3)

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 21 - An art collector has paid 6.2 million dollars for 'Comedian', Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's work of conceptual art featuring a fresh banana taped to a wall at a Sotheby's auction in New York. The debut of the artwork at the Art Basel show in Miami Beach in 2019 sparked an uproar after an artist who was part of the performance, David Datuna, detached the banana from the stand of the Perrotin Gallery where it was on display and ate it in front of the stunned visitors.
    The banana had been bought at a local supermarket.
    The artwork in 2019 was sold for 120,000 dollars.
    Sotheby's had estimated the value of 'Comedian' between 1 and 1.5 million dollars.
    The collector who bought the artwork at the New York auction late on Wednesday will receive a strip of silver duct tape, the banana, a certificate of authenticity and instructions for its installation. (ANSA).