NEW YORK CITY: A fully functional toilet made entirely of 18-karat gold has been sold for a jaw-dropping $12.1 million at a Sotheby’s auction on Tuesday, November 18.
The 223-pound golden toilet, provocatively titled America, was created by controversial Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan the same artist famous for duct-taping a banana to a wall. The piece had opened with a starting bid of $10 million.
Before going under the hammer, the toilet was installed at Sotheby’s New York headquarters, where visitors were allowed to view it but strictly forbidden from using it.
We don’t want people sitting on the art, Sotheby’s expert David Galperin said.
Cattelan explained that the artwork is a satire of America’s obsession with wealth and excess.
Whether you eat a $200 lunch or a $2 hot dog, the result is the same, toilet-wise, he joked.
He added that he deliberately placed something priceless in the least noble and most necessary place to highlight the contrast between luxury and basic human needs.
Sotheby’s described the piece as an incisive commentary on the collision of artistic production and commodity value.
This isn’t Cattelan’s first viral sensation. His earlier work, Comedian, which featured a real banana taped to a wall, sparked global conversation and sold for $6 million.
The banana had to be replaced several times after it either got rotten or was eaten by amused visitors.
The newly sold golden toilet continues Cattelan’s streak of creating bold, conversation-starting artworks that challenge society’s views on wealth, value, and art itself.
