Contemporary art is once again laughing at excess. This month, Sotheby’s will auction “America”, the famous solid gold toilet created by Maurizio Cattelan, with an estimated value of $10 million. The piece, made from 101.2 kilograms of gold, stands as a gleaming — and fully functional — symbol of what happens when luxury and irony share the same throne.
Cattelan, a master of satire and absurdity, first presented the work at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2016, where visitors were literally invited to use the art. The auction house describes the piece as “an incisive commentary on the collision between artistic value and material worth.”
The golden toilet also has its own criminal chapter. In 2019, one of the two versions of “America” was stolen from Blenheim Palace in England. Earlier this year, authorities arrested and convicted two men involved in the theft, though the artwork remains missing.
The version going to auction belongs to an anonymous collector and will be on view at Sotheby’s Breuer Building in New York from 8 November — strictly for looking, not using. The bidding opens on 18 November.
Cattelan, also known for his duct-taped banana (“Comedian”) — sold to Justin Sun for $6.2 million and promptly eaten by him — proves once again that humour is still worth its weight in gold. Literally.
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