A banana duct-taped to a wall has sold for £4.9 million – part of the evolving relationship between art and finance

On the evening of November 20, Sotheby’s auction house sold an artwork by Maurizio Cattelan for an astonishing sum. The piece, entitled Comedian, is not a conventional painting or sculpture. It consists of an ordinary banana, duct-taped to a wall at a jaunty angle. The hammer price? A staggering US$6.2 million (£4.9 million).

The widespread incredulity surrounding this exorbitant price has been tinged with humour. The sale has been perceived by many as a kind of jest at the expense of the buyer, Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun.

It has even spawned its own meme and hash-tag, #BTW, which stands for “Banana Tape Wall”. Sun took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to say he was “thrilled” with his purchase and would be eating the banana in the coming days.

Bananas have a rich comedic history. Given that Comedian is the title of the artwork, we are seemingly invited to conclude that Sun’s purchase itself is an unintentional pratfall – a slip on a banana peel.

However, Cattelan claims that Comedian serves as “a sincere commentary on what we value” rather than merely a joke. Exploring Comedian’s place within the realm of conceptual art reveals its implications for our understanding of value, the role of technology – and the evolving relationship between art and finance.

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