Duct-taped banana sells for more than $6 million at auction

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Duct-taped banana sells for more than $6 million at auctionnbcnews.com
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Duct-taped banana sells for more than $6 million at auction

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Maurizio Cattelan's "Comedian," a banana duct-taped to a wall, sold for $6.24 million at a Sotheby's auction on Wednesday. The piece was initially estimated to sell for $1.5 million, according to Sotheby's, and debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019. Experts in a Sotheby's video said the work is meant to be funny while also mocking the notion that art can have such value, and Lucius Elliot, Sotheby's head of contemporary marquee sales, said its worth lies in its "conceptual heft." Art Basel had to remove the banana from the wall because of crowds, according to art critic Nancy Durrant.

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This article expected $1m but became $6m.

“Emmanuel Perrotin, founder of Perrotin, the gallery where "Comedian" was first shown, said he called a client the day before the banana's debut offering the client a chance to buy the artwork at an undisclosed price. The client turned him down, but three days later, Perrotin got a message from someone offering to buy "Comedian" for seven times the price he initially offered his client.

"Imagine the change of perception created by the way it was received by the audience," Perrotin said.”