VOA文化艺术2024--Italian Artist's Banana Artwork Sells for $6.2 Million

A much-publicized art piece made up of a single banana taped to a wall has sold for $6.2 million.

The sale happened Wednesday night during an auction¹ in New York City at famous art seller Sotheby's. The work, called Comedian², was sold to cryptocurrency businessman Justin Sun. He is a Chinese collector and founder³ of the cryptocurrency company Tron. Sun placed the winning bid over the phone and the sale was completed in cryptocurrency.

Before the auction, Sotheby's said the unusual art piece was expected to bring in at least $1.5 million. But the price quickly started rising after the auction began, with people bidding inside the auction room, as well as on the phone and online.

The art piece had already sold three times for prices between $120,000 and $150,000, The Associated Press reported.

Sun said in a statement after the auction that Comedian "is not just an artwork." He added that the piece "bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community."

Sun said he planned to eat the banana, as at least two onlookers⁴ did when the artwork was presented at places around the world. Sotheby's says the fruit was always meant to be replaced repeatedly, along with the duct tape.

The work was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. It was first presented in 2019 at the Art Basel Miami Beach show in Miami, Florida. The piece quickly led to much public discussion about what should be considered art.

Comedian belongs to a kind of art known as conceptual artwork. A conceptual piece is one in which the idea or meaning behind the work is more important than the finished object itself.

The head of contemporary art at Sotheby's is David Galperin. He told the AP he understands the piece's popularity because it is highly provocative⁵. Provocative describes something likely to produce a strong reaction and much public debate.

"What Cattelan is really doing is turning a mirror to the contemporary art world," Galperin said. He added that he thinks Comedian can cause people to question what values should be attached to artworks and what can be defined as artwork.

"What you buy when you buy Cattelan's Comedian is not the banana itself, but a certificate of authenticity⁶," Galperin said. That document, he added, gives the owner permission to reproduce the banana and duct tape on their own wall as an original artwork by the artist.

The sale of Comedian came shortly after Sotheby's auctioned⁷ off a famed artwork in the Water Lilies series by French painter Claude Monet. That piece sold on Monday for $65.5 million.

When asked to compare Cattelan's simple wall art to major works like Monet's, Galperin said that form of art, called impressionism, was not taken seriously when that movement first began.

"No important, profound, meaningful artwork of the past 100 years or 200 years, or our history for that matter, did not provoke some kind of discomfort⁸ when it was first unveiled," Galperin said.

Words in This Story

auction - n. a public sale at which things are sold to the people who offer to pay the most

comedian - n. a person who performs in front of an audience and makes people laugh by telling jokes or funny stories or by acting⁹ in a way that is funny

bid - v. to offer to pay a particular amount of money for something

meme - n. an idea, image, video, etc. that spreads very quickly on the internet

duct tape - n. a very strong tape that is often used to cover holes and other repair jobs

mirror - n. a piece of glass with a shiny, metal-covered back that reflects light and produces an image of whatever is in front of it

certificate of authenticity - n. document that prove an artwork, or something, is real

original - adj. an original piece of work, such as a painting, etc. is produced by the artist and not a copy

profound - adj. felt or experienced very strongly or in an extreme way

 

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1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 onlookers   

n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of the crash. 在撞车地点聚集了一大群围观者。
• The onlookers stood at a respectful distance. 旁观者站在一定的距离之外，以示尊敬。

5 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

6 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

7 auctioned   

v.拍卖( auction的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was sad to see all grandmother's lovely things being auctioned off. 眼看着祖母那些可爱的东西全都被拍卖掉，心里真不好受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。