For those who got to indulge at Art Basel 2019 the talk of the town was Maurizio Cattelan's Comedy piece which edition 1 sold for $120,000 followed by Edition 2 selling for $150,000. The other bananas will be on display at a museum in early 2020 (perhaps a good way to start off the decade)...
A letter to Perrotin's patrons who I have been fortunate with to work with in the past sent out the following email as to why the six figure banana would no longer be on display for the final day after another artist walked up and ate the banana in front of a large crowd. The email ensues below:
The artist Maurizio Cattelan and Perrotin gallery regret to inform you that Comedian will be removed from our Art Basel Miami Beach booth for the last day of the fair, Sunday, December 8th.
This morning, following recommendations, we removed the
installation at 9am. We want to thank the organizers of the fair for
their help and continued support. Art Basel collaboratively worked with
us to station guards and create uniform lines. However, the installation
caused several uncontrollable crowd movements and the placement of the
work on our booth compromised the safety of the artwork around us,
including that of our neighbors.
Comedian, with its simple composition, ultimately offered a
complex reflection of ourselves. We would like to warmly thank all those
who participated in this memorable adventure, as well as to our
colleagues. We sincerely apologize to all the visitors of the fair who
today will not be able to participate in Comedian.
