Justin Sun spends $6.4 million on banana art
Justin Sun, founder of Tron, purchased the controversial banana artwork "Comedian" by Maurizio Cattelan for $6.4 million at a Sotheby's contemporary art auction in New York on Wednesday evening. The piece, a banana taped to a wall, far exceeded its estimated price of $1.5 million, making it one of the most expensive and controversial artworks in history.
The bidding was fierce, attracting six buyers before Sotheby's Deputy Chairman and Chairman of Sotheby's China, Jen Hua, secured the piece on behalf of Sun. Significantly, Sotheby's accepted cryptocurrency payment for the artwork, a move coinciding with Bitcoin's surge to $97,000 following the US presidential election, highlighting the burgeoning cryptocurrency market.
Sun announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the artwork "is not just an artwork, it represents a cultural phenomenon bridging art, memes, and the crypto community." He plans to eat the banana in the coming days to commemorate its place in art history and pop culture. The artwork includes a real banana, the tape on the wall, and a certificate of authenticity, with instructions for replacing the fruit as it rots.
Sotheby's auctioneer, Oliver Barker, humorously remarked during the auction, "I never thought I'd say this: 'Five million dollars for a banana.'"
"Comedian" first gained notoriety at Art Basel in 2019, when a similar piece sold for $120,000. Performance artist David Datuna subsequently ate an exhibited piece, dubbing his action "Hungry Artist," further fueling the work's fame and controversy. This event sparked widespread debate about the subjectivity and absurdity of art valuation.
It's noteworthy that Sun founded Tron in 2017 and stepped down as CEO of the Tron Foundation in December 2021, transferring control to the Tron DAO, a non-profit decentralized autonomous organization.
