A conceptual artwork by Maurizio Cattelan, “Comedian,” is just a fruit-stand banana taped on the wall. But 7 bidders were biting. It went to a crypto entrepreneur.

The Italian artist who created the banana duct-taped to a wall that sold this week for $6.2 million, said in an interview published on Friday that the work was a "provocation" and an invitation to appreciate the true value of art.

Forget your 99-cent grocery store banana—this one could cost you $1.5 million. No, it’s not genetically engineered or dipped in gold; it’s a regular banana

This year has seen some of the worst sales in decades for the art market, and the “Comedian” piece is unlikely to move the needle one way or the other.

A banana duct-taped to a white wall — or an acclaimed piece of art, depending on how you look at it — sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $US6.24 ($A9.57) million on Wednesday. Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian is comprised simply of a banana stuck to the wall with a strip of silver duct tape and is hung exactly 160cm from the floor.

The 'Banana' hanging on the wall (titled 'Comedian') by Maurizio Cattelan was recently sold in New York for over 6 million dollars by Sotheby's, drawing public attention to one of the

The controversial work, which instantly went viral when it debuted at Art Basel in 2019, beat estimates several times over.

Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun bought Maurizio Cattelan's famous banana-taped-to-a-wall artwork, Comedian, for $6.24 million at a Sotheby’s auction. Sun, who links conceptual art to crypto culture, plans to either exhibit it,

A cryptocurrency entrepreneur who identified himself as the buyer of a viral artwork depicting a yellow banana duct-taped to a wall said he will eat the fruit as part of a “unique artistic experience.