Viral duct-taped banana sells for $6.2 million at Sotheby's art auction in New York

Question

Was a banana actually sold for 6 million dollars?

Answer 1

Yes, a banana was sold for $6.24 million. According to NBC News, the buyer was a 34-year-old cryptocurrency platform founder named Justin Sun. Other large news outlets, such as the New York Times and NPR, also confirmed this.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/personal-finance/banana-art-comedian-market-struggles-reacts-6-million-rcna181240

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/21/nx-s1-5199568/a-duct-taped-banana-sells-for-6-2-million-at-an-art-auction

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/arts/design/cattelan-banana-sothebys-auction.html

Comments

I appreciate that you linked multiple sources in your fact-check. I also appreciate that you drew from reliable journalistic publications such as NYT and NPR. Finally, I think it's helpful that you added a little information about the buyer in your response; it builds the authenticity of your fact-check.

Answer 2

The claim of the banana duct-taped to the wall being auctioned for $6.2 million at Sotheby's is true. The article states that "a simple banana, duct-taped to a wall, sold for $6.2 million at an auction in New York on Wednesday, with the winning bid coming from a prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneur." According to the same ABC article, "the piece attracted heavy attention at the busy auction at Sotheby's, with attendees in the crowded room holding up phones to take photos [...]" This shows that this "conceptual" piece captured the attention of Sotheby's attendees.

In a New York Times article, it is stated that "Five minutes of rapid bidding that had started at $800,000 ended when the Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun placed the winning bid, besting six other rivals, which experts said was a sign that even a struggling market would spend big on spectacle." The banana returned with an estimate between $1 million and $1.5 million, but the final hammer price of $5.2 million, plus auction-house fees, for a total of $6.2 million accelerated its lower estimate.

Sources

https://abc7ny.com/post/arts-culture-news-viral-duct-taped-banana-sells-62-million-sothebys-auction-new-york/15568383/#:~:text=NEW%20YORK%20%2D%2D%20A%20piece,from%20a%20prominent%20cryptocurrency%20entrepreneur.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/arts/design/cattelan-banana-sothebys-auction.html

Comments

I appreciate how you gave background on this peculiar story instead of just stating if it was true or false. Both of the sources you provided are known to be reliable and not spread false information.  I found an article from the Guardian about how the artwork was originally for sale in 2019 but a performance artist named David Datuna literally ate the banana the costed $120,000 at the time. He also did not get permission from the artist to do this (Hoffman, 2019).

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/dec/11/david-datuna-120000-banana-interview-art-basel-miami