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This Art is Bananas!

Two years ago, a slowly rotting piece of fruit sold for $150,000. Who decided it was a valuable piece of art? And where is it now

JOHN TAGGART/The New York Times/Redux 

Sold for: $150,000

    A banana in a bowl of cornflakes is breakfast. 

    A banana with ice cream and chocolate sauce is dessert. 

    A banana taped to a wall is . . . a very expensive work of art?

    That’s right. In December 2019, thousands of art lovers showed up at a famous art show in Miami. There were beautiful paintings on display. There were sculptures in bronze and wood and clay. But the most popular work was a banana stuck to the wall with a few inches of duct tape. One version of it sold for $150,000!

Going Bananas

    The banana went viral—and many people were not happy. “Something’s rotten in the art world,” wrote the New York Post. Many people wondered, how can you call a banana art? Artists are supposed to have special talents. They spend years training to be painters or sculptors. Any 6-year-old kid can tape a banana to a wall.

    But the banana wasn’t a child’s game. It was part of a more than 100-year-old tradition called conceptual art. Conceptual art is not supposed to be beautiful. It doesn’t have to last a long time. And it doesn’t rely on an artist’s skill. Conceptual art is art that is mostly about a concept, or idea. 

What Is Art, Anyway?

    So what was the idea behind the banana? Some people said it was a creative joke. (Its title was Comedian.) They believed it was meant to make fun of art lovers who will spend a small fortune on a rotting piece of fruit.

    Still others claimed it did exactly what art is supposed to do. It made people think. Most people don’t pay attention to art at all. At least the banana got people talking and debating. It got them asking the question, what is art?

    You may be asking a more basic question: What happens when the banana rots?

    Luckily, it came with instructions. The artist, Maurizio Cattelan, says you can replace the banana every 7 to 10 days. 

    That way your $150,000 masterpiece won’t start leaking onto your floor.

POTTY ART: Then and Now

What’s with conceptual artists and toilets?

Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Worth: $3 million

Bettmann/Getty Images

Then 
Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) is called the father of conceptual art. He took ordinary objects and presented them as art. The most famous was a urinal titled Fountain.

© Gbs/Ropi via ZUMA Press

Worth: $6 million

Rob Kim/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival

Now  
Maurizio Cattelan is the artist behind the banana. His other well-known piece is a gold toilet called America. (Yes, it actually flushes!)

Leveled Articles (2)
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Weird But True

Higher Level: This Art Is Bananas!

Read or print a 800-900L version of this article in magazine view.

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Weird But True

Lower Level: This Art Is Bananas!

Read or print a 500-600L version of this article in magazine view.

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