A French museum has filed a criminal complaint after the banana used in Maurizio Cattelan‘s famous artwork Comedian was stolen from an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou-Metz in eastern France. The conceptual artwork, which consists of a banana taped to a wall, gained worldwide attention after one edition sold for $6.2 mln at auction in 2024.
Museum officials said a security guard discovered the banana missing over the weekend. The institution subsequently alerted police and filed a complaint against unknown persons, describing the theft as an issue of respect for the artwork.
Despite the high valuation of the piece, the museum quickly restored the installation by replacing the fruit, which is routinely changed as part of the artwork’s display instructions. Officials said no irreversible damage had been caused.
The theft is the latest incident involving Comedian, which has repeatedly made headlines after visitors and collectors consumed the banana during previous exhibitions. Art experts note that the work’s value lies not in the fruit itself but in the certificate of authenticity and the concept behind the installation.
Created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan in 2019, Comedian has become one of the most recognizable and controversial works of contemporary art, continuing to spark debate over artistic value and the nature of conceptual art.
