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

A piece of conceptual art consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall has sold for $US6.2 million ($9.57 million) at an auction in New York.

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.

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.

Justin Sun, founder of the cryptocurrency platform TRON, bought a duct-taped banana artwork entitled “Comedian” for millions of dollars.

Maurizio Cattelan's "Comedian," a banana duct-taped to a wall, was sold at Sotheby's in New York on Wednesday for $6.2 million.