Banana from Multimillion-Dollar Installation Goes Missing, French Museum Files Complaint

Banana Artwork Stolen from French Museum, Renewing Scrutiny of Provocative Installation

A banana, the central element of Maurizio Cattelan's multimillion-dollar artwork Comedian, has been stolen from the Pompidou-Metz museum in eastern France. The theft prompted a criminal complaint and renewed scrutiny of the installation, which has been the target of repeated incidents in the past.

The theft was discovered on Saturday by a security guard who found that the banana, taped to a wall as part of the conceptual artwork, had gone missing. The museum quickly lodged a police complaint against unknown persons for theft and confirmed that the banana had been replaced shortly after the incident.

This is not the first time the artwork has been tampered with. The museum noted that the banana, which is routinely replaced every three days due to its perishable nature, has been the target of previous incidents. In July last year, a visitor removed and ate the fruit before guards intervened and installed a replacement. No legal action was pursued at the time.

Read also: 60 Minutes' Future Under Scrutiny Amid CBS News Turmoil

However, this time, the museum chose to escalate the matter due to the anonymity of the perpetrator and the lack of scope for engagement. It also flagged the incident as a repeat offence and framed it as an issue of respect for the artwork.

Comedian, created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019 with a reported asking price of $120,000. The work quickly went viral, sparking debate over the nature of art and value. Its structure is deliberately simple: a real banana affixed to a wall with duct tape. Yet its market value has surged in recent years.

In 2024, crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun bought one iteration of the artwork for $5.2 million and subsequently ate the banana in a widely publicised act that echoed earlier performances. At its 2019 debut, performance artist David Datuna had similarly consumed the fruit, calling the act a commentary on the work itself.

Cattelan has previously leaned into the controversy surrounding the piece. After the 2023 incident at Pompidou-Metz, he reportedly expressed disappointment that the visitor had eaten only the banana and not the tape. The artist is no stranger to headline-grabbing works, having also created America, an 18-carat gold toilet that was stolen during an exhibition in the UK in 2020. A British court in March found two men guilty in that case, though the stolen gold was never recovered.

Read also: Uber Driver Allegedly Assaults Passenger in Mumbai Over Unpaid Fare Dispute

The latest theft highlights the ongoing tension between conceptual art's interactive appeal and the need to preserve exhibits. While Comedian is designed to provoke questions about value, authorship, and ephemerality, repeated incidents involving the removal or consumption of the banana have pushed institutions to take a stricter stance. For the Pompidou-Metz, replacing the banana may be simple—but maintaining the integrity of a multimillion-dollar idea appears to be far more complex.