On the evening of 18/11 (New York time), Sotheby's offered Maurizio Cattelan's artwork, "America", for sale. According to Hyperallergic, organizers set an initial bid of 10 million USD, based on the current price of gold. The piece did not attract significant interest and was ultimately acquired by the first bidder at the starting price. Additionally, the buyer incurred over two million USD in auction fees, including taxes.
David Galperin, head of Sotheby's contemporary art department, described it as "one of Maurizio Cattelan's most iconic and influential works". Galperin noted that this creation "encapsulates Cattelan's long-standing concerns with value, irrationality, and institutional critique".
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Before the auction, the toilet was installed in the Breuer building (New York), Sotheby's headquarters, but was prohibited from use. Photo: Sotheby's |
Before the auction, the toilet was installed in the Breuer building (New York), Sotheby's headquarters, but was prohibited from use. Photo: Sotheby's
"America" is one of two famous golden toilets by Maurizio Cattelan, both fully functional like a regular fixture. He created them in 2016, giving both the same name. The piece featured in this auction is the second version, previously owned by billionaire Steve Cohen, who secretly purchased it in 2017 and decided to sell it this year.
The art website Hyperallergic commented that this bathroom fixture represents a more reasonable investment than "Comedian", the controversial artwork of a banana taped to a wall, which sold for 6,2 million USD last year. Moreover, it was a timely sale, given that gold prices had increased by over 50% in the past year.
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Portrait of artist Maurizio Cattelan. Photo: Maurizio Cattelan Archive |
Portrait of artist Maurizio Cattelan. Photo: Maurizio Cattelan Archive
The other golden toilet has had a more tumultuous fate, reportedly valued at 2,5 million USD upon its debut. In 2016, the Guggenheim Museum in the US exhibited the piece, connecting it to the plumbing system in a public restroom and allowing over 100,000 visitors to use it.
Following President Trump's first inauguration, the museum offered to lend the artwork to the White House, but the offer was declined. In 2019, the toilet was moved to an exhibition room at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. Shortly after, it was stolen and remains missing to this day.
Maurizio Cattelan was born in 1960 in Padua, northern Italy. He grew up in a modest family; his father was a truck driver, and his mother worked as a domestic helper. Cattelan earned the moniker "the art world's jester" for his humorous, satirical works that challenge the boundaries of contemporary value systems.
From the early 2000s, he began creating surreal sculptures, such as "We Are the Revolution" (2001), which features a miniature artist mannequin hanging on a clothes rack. In 2011, he sparked controversy with "Him", a depiction of Adolf Hitler in a kneeling posture. This work also set Cattelan's auction record, selling for 17,2 million USD in 2016.
Despite his many famous works, Cattelan never attended art school, maintaining complete creative freedom. In an interview with Lux magazine, the artist stated, "The saddest gift I ever received was a drawing kit. Those were things I wanted to try, but I knew I couldn't master them".
Trinh Lam (according to Hyperallergic, ArtNews)
