A piece of conceptual art consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall sold for a total of $6.2 million at an auction in New York on Wednesday. “Comedian,” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was a phenomenon when it debuted in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Beach, as festivalgoers tried to make out whether the single yellow piece of fruit affixed to a white wall with silver duct tape was a joke or cheeky commentary on questionable standards among art collectors. At one point another artist took the banana off the wall and ate it. The piece attracted so much attention that it had to be withdrawn from view, but three editions sold for between $120,000 and $150,000, according to the gallery handling sales at the time. Five years later, someone has now paid more than 40 times that higher price point at the Sotheby’s auction. Or, more accurately, they have purchased a certificate of authenticity that gives them the authority to duct-tape a banana to a wall and call it “Comedian.” Bidding started at $800,000 and within minutes shot up to $2 million, then $3 million, then $4 million, as the auctioneer joked, “It’s slipping through the auction room.” The final hammer price announced in the room was $5.2 million, which didn't include the about $1 million in auction house fees, paid by the buyer. The sale came a day after a painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte sold for $121.2 million, a record for the artist, at a separate auction.