Duct-taped banana installations created by Maurizio Cattelan are selling for up to $150,000

The world’s gone bananas! Duct-taped fruit installations created by Maurizio Cattelan sell for up to $150,000 at art exhibit in Miami

  • Art collectors are shelling out the big bucks to get their hands on the prized installation by Maurizio Cattelan that’s housed at the Art Basel Miami Beach
  • Perrotin, the Parisian art gallery with branches in New York and across Asia, sold the first piece from the Italian artist for a staggering $120,000
  • ‘We sold it already,’ Emmanuel Perrotin said of the piece – called the Comedian
  • After selling the second piece, he and the artist decided to up the price to $150,000 
  • The bananas are sourced from a local Miami supermarket and then taped to a wall with a singular piece of duct tape  

Would you spend nearly $150,000 for a banana duct taped to a wall? 

Wealthy art collectors are shelling out the big bucks to get their hands on the prized installation by Maurizio Cattelan that’s housed at the Art Basel Miami Beach. 

Perrotin, the Parisian art gallery with branches in New York and across Asia, sold the first piece from the Italian artist for a staggering $120,000. 

‘We sold it already,’ Emmanuel Perrotin said of the piece – called the Comedian. 

Art collectors are shelling out the big bucks to get their hands on the prized installation by Maurizio Cattelan that’s housed at the Art Basel Miami Beach

After selling the second piece, Emmanuel Perrotin and the artist (pictured) decided to up the price to $150,000

After selling the second piece, Emmanuel Perrotin and the artist (pictured) decided to up the price to $150,000

A French woman was the lucky buyer of the expensive installation, Artnet News reports. She had bought pieces from the Miami gallery before but the ‘Comedian’ was her first piece from Cattelan. 

The bananas are sourced from a local Miami supermarket and then taped to a wall with a singular piece of duct tape. 

A French man purchased the second edition of the piece before Perrotin and the artist bumped the price up to $150,000 for the third edition. 

Two institutions have already expressed interest in the piece. 

Cattelan was extremely specific when choosing the right fruit for his pieces. He also carefully considered where the banana would be placed in relation to the wall

Cattelan was extremely specific when choosing the right fruit for his pieces. He also carefully considered where the banana would be placed in relation to the wall

Cattelan was extremely specific when choosing the right fruit for his pieces. He also carefully considered where the banana would be placed in relation to the wall.  

Perrotin, who has worked with the artist for 27 years, was shocked by how much attention the bananas were getting. 

He stated: ‘It’s a miracle; I don’t know how this happened!… When we started to work together I had to fight to convince collectors one by one to buy his work.’ 

Cattelan took about a year to come up with the full concept for Comedian. He had made versions of the piece using bronze and resin but felt that those were lacking. 

People flock to take photos with the expensive bananas

People flock to take photos with the expensive bananas 

Perrotin isn't concerned about someone stealing the pieces as they hold no value without Cattelan's certificate of authenticity

Perrotin isn’t concerned about someone stealing the pieces as they hold no value without Cattelan’s certificate of authenticity

‘Wherever I was traveling I had this banana on the wall. I couldn’t figure out how to finish it,’ Cattelan said. ‘In the end, one day I woke up and I said “the banana is supposed to be a banana.”‘ 

While he would not comment on what the pieces mean, Cattelan did share that he was partially inspired by all the large paintings he’s seen at galleries. 

‘I’m not in Miami, but I’m sure it’s full of paintings as well,’ said Cattelan. ‘I thought maybe a banana could be a good contribution!’

Perrotin isn’t concerned about someone coming to steal the pieces as they hold no value without Cattelan’s certificate of authenticity. 

Cattlelan made international headlines in September after a toilet he made – created with 18-karat gold and worth $6million – was stolen from the Bleinheim Palace in the UK.

Five people have since been arrested in connection to the theft.      



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk