Artist behind $6M banana lands $12M sale for 200lb solid gold toilet

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A solid gold toilet, weighing over 200 pounds, was sold for $12.1 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York on Tuesday, November 18th. It was a highlight of the evening’s modern art sale.

Maurizio Cattelan, the artist famous for the $6 million banana artwork, has created a new piece called America. It’s an 18-karat gold toilet weighing 101 kilograms.

The auction for the toilet began with a starting bid of about $10 million and ultimately sold for $12.1 million. The artist, Maurizio Cattelan, has said the fully functional toilet is meant to be a commentary on the excesses of wealth, and Sotheby’s explained that it highlights the intersection of art and financial value.

He jokingly observed that no matter what you eat – whether it’s an expensive $200 meal or a cheap $2 hot dog – the eventual outcome is the same when you go to the bathroom.

It’s not the only solid gold toilet

Maurizio Cattelan made two gold toilets in 2016. One of them was displayed at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and then at Blenheim Palace in England, but it was stolen. While two people were convicted of the theft, authorities think the toilet was probably destroyed and melted down.

A second copy of the artwork, held by a private collector, was showcased at Sotheby’s before it went up for auction on Tuesday.

Maurizio Cattelan became famous again earlier this year when his artwork, ‘The Comedian’ – a banana duct-taped to a wall – caused a stir with another public event.

On July 12th, a museum visitor at the Centre Pompidou-Metz in France ate the banana that was part of an art installation. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened – the artwork has been subject to similar incidents since it was first displayed at Art Basel in 2019.

Museum staff responded swiftly and calmly, replacing the banana within minutes. Because it’s a perishable item, the artist requested that the banana be changed out regularly.

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2025-11-19 20:19