Maurizio Cattelan’s provocative artwork of banana ducts on a wall fetched $6.2m (£4.9m) at Sotheby’s in New York – more than four times the pre-sale estimate.
Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun beat out six other competitors to acquire the Italian visual artist’s “Comedian” installation on Wednesday, the auction house said.
“In the coming days, I will personally eat bananas as part of this unique artistic experience,” said Mr Sun.
According to the New York Times, the tapped banana — now perhaps one of the most expensive fruits — was originally bought for just $0.35 earlier in the day.
The “comedian” was first presented to the public in 2019, immediately becoming a viral sensation and sparking heated debates about what art is.
The installation – which has traveled around the world – comes with instructions on how to replace the banana when it rots.
In fact, this fruit has been eaten not once but twice.
According to local media, the museum later placed a new banana in the same location.
Four years ago, a performance artist pulled a banana from the wall after the artwork sold for $120,000 at Art Basel in Miami.
The banana was quickly replaced, and no further action was taken.
Justin Sun runs the Tron blockchain network, which facilitates some cryptocurrency transactions. last year The US Securities and Exchange Commission charged him with fraudSaying that it has falsely inflated the trading volume of Tron’s crypto token, TRX. Mr Sun denies the allegations.
