Maurizio Cattelan’s (in)famous duct-taped banana has briefly gone missing from a show in northern France. The work, known as Comedian (2019), is on display in the exhibition Endless Sunday-Maurizio Cattelan and the Centre Pompidou Collection at the Centre-Pompidou Metz (until 25 January 2027).
According to a statement from the museum, the work by the Italian artist was “stolen” on 30 May. The disappearance of the banana, which constitutes “the perishable element of the work”, was reported by a museum security guard. The banana has already been replaced and the “work has been restored to its original presentation as quickly as possible”.
The museum has filed a complaint with the authorities, although the perpetrators remain unknown. In its statement on the theft, the museum highlights that “the value of the work lies in its certificate of authenticity and then the protocol governing its presentation rather than in its perishable element.“
The statement adds: “The institution nevertheless condemns this act which undermines the respect due to the works on display and temporarily deprives visitors of part of the experience offered by the exhibition. In accordance with the protocol established for this work no irreversible damage was observed.”
The banana is indeed an easy target; last year a visitor ate the fruit shortly after the exhibition opened in May at the Centre Pompidou-Metz. It has also been consumed by a performance artist at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019, when it was unveiled, and again by a hungry art student at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul in 2023.
Comedian has been derided as both a consequence of art-market excess and lauded as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of its own absurdity. When asked about the work, Cattelan told The Art Newspaper in 2021: “To me, Comedian was not a joke; it was a sincere commentary and a reflection on what we value. At art fairs, speed and business reign, so I saw it like this: if I had to be at a fair, I could sell a banana like others sell their paintings. I could play within the system, but with my rules.”