Art world goes bananas as piece of fruit taped to a wall sells for $5.2m

At first it was just a humble banana.

- Tim Jonze

Then it became a work of art attached to a gallery wall with duct tape by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. Next, it was eaten - twice -by a succession of performance artists who helped turn it into a global news story. Then yesterday it was sold for $5.2m (£4.1m) at Sotheby's New York, making it surely the most expensive piece of edible fruit on the planet.

The 2019 work Comedian - which according to its maker is a "sincere commentary on what we value" - was purchased by the crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who described it as a "cultural phenomenon".

Sun forked out more than four times the initial estimate for the work during what was reported to have been an extremely fast moving auction involving seven bidders.

Even the auctioneer, Oliver Barker, seemed a little taken aback: "These are words I never thought I would say: the banana has sold for $5.2 million," he joked at the conclusion of the sale.

Had Sun overpaid or made a smart purchase? The banana on auction was, according to the New York Times, bought earlier that day for 35 cents from a fruit stand on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. That means the fruit's value increased 15m times over the space of a few hours.