The Pompidou-Metz Museum in eastern France filed a police report on 31/5 regarding the theft of the banana, the central component of the artwork "Comedian" by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.

Management has since replaced the missing banana in the "banana taped to wall" artwork. The banana in the piece is routinely replaced every three days.

Visitors photograph the banana artwork at the Pompidou-Metz Museum in May. AFP

This is not the first incident involving the artwork. In 7/2025, a museum visitor took the banana and ate it on the spot. Security personnel quickly intervened, then taped another banana to the wall. Artist Cattelan expressed disappointment that the visitor "only ate the banana and not the tape".

This time, the museum decided to report the incident to the police because the culprit has not been identified and there is "no possibility of dialogue". Management also stated that this is the second time the artwork has been compromised, viewing it as an issue of respect for art.

"Comedian" first debuted at the Art Basel exhibition in Miami, USA, in 2019 with an asking price of 120,000 USD. The artwork sparked controversy regarding the concept of art and its value. At that event, performance artist David Datuna ate the banana from the piece, stating he was "still hungry".

The artwork's value continued to rise in subsequent years. In 2024, Chinese-born entrepreneur Justin Sun spent over 6 million USD to acquire a new version of the piece, then ate the banana on camera in Hong Kong a few days later.

In addition to "Comedian", Cattelan is also known for his 18-carat gold toilet titled "America". Two men stole the gold toilet during a 2020 exhibition in the UK, subsequently dismantling and selling the piece. The gold has not yet been recovered.

Thanh Danh (According to AFP)