myn exhibitor in 2019 at Art Basel Miami, under the title Actor, With a simple banana bought at a local market and stuck to the wall of the Perrotin gallery stand with a piece of thick silver adhesive tape, Maurizio Cattelan had caused a sensation. Then the scandal began when the gallery owner announced that he had sold the first two copies (there are three, plus two “artist proofs”) for 120,000 dollars (113,907 euros), the third for 140,000, a kind of bonus for the two fastest buyers. daily life New York Post then titled: “The art world is going crazy…” You will have to show your imagination: one of the copies in question was sold on Wednesday night at Sotheby’s in New York for 5.2 million dollars (4.7 million euros). “fire price” as they say in the auctions, a formula that now sounds more true, or 6.2 million dollars (5.8 million euros) with costs.
Seven bidders competed for it. Estimated by the auction house between 1 and 1.5 million dollars – which means that they already had buyers in this range, which however represents ten times its initial price -, with a price of 800,000 dollars (759,000 euros), the fruit is assembled in six minutes to the final prize. Its new owner is the Chinese Justin Sun. Based in Hong Kong, founder of the TRON platform, he made his fortune with cryptocurrencies, which have appreciated significantly since the election of Donald Trump.
Sell virtual
This is not the billionaire’s first foray into the extreme avant-garde of the art market: already in 2021 he was the bidder for the sale at Christie’s of Every day: the first 5000 daysa work by Beeple, real name Mike Winkelmann, an American digital artist. Guaranteed by an NFT (Non Fungible Token), a kind of digital certificate of authenticity, the work, which is a collage of images already published online by the artist, reached the incredible sum of 69.34 million dollars (65.83 million euros). So, although he didn’t win the auction, Justin Sun showed that he can already reach very high.
For what reason? Mr. Sun himself explained it in a message posted on X after the sale: “I am delighted to announce that I have successfully acquired the iconic work of Maurizio Cattelan, Actorfor 6.2 million dollars. It is not just a work of art; represents a cultural phenomenon that unites the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community. » Because, as for Every day: the first 5000 daysthe value of Actor does not reside in the object – Justin Sun has also announced his intention to eat the banana, in which he would not be the first, since two people have already done so without authorization – but in the accompanying certificate of authenticity (as well as assembly instructions, etc.). It is not an NFT (non-fungible token or “non-fungible tokens” in French), but a paper version, although the spirit is the same. They both sell virtual. It is a principle as old as conceptual art and that goes back even to Marcel Duchamp, or even further if we consider that what gives value to a work is the notoriety of the artist. This is what means that an almost completely restored painting, but attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, can sell for $450 million.
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