A striking piece of contemporary art, a fully usable toilet made of 18-carat gold, has sold for $12.1 million. Created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, the work titled America has drawn global attention ever since its first casting vanished in a 2019 theft at Blenheim Palace. The latest version has now been acquired by Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, bringing the artwork back into the public eye. (Also read: Reinventing Kasavu: How visual artist Lakshmi Madhavan brings Kerala’s heritage alive through textile art )
Cattelan’s golden toilet steals spotlight
Maurizio Cattelan, the Italian artist who once made headlines by taping a banana to a wall, is behind this glittering, 18-karat-gold toilet titled America. Weighing a hefty 101 kilograms, the piece opened with a starting bid of around $10 million.
Cattelan has always said the work pokes fun at the super-rich. “Whether you eat a $200 gourmet meal or a $2 hot dog, the result is the same,” he quipped once. Sotheby’s called it a sharp, witty take on how art and money collide in today’s world. The second piece, owned by an unnamed collector, was displayed at Sotheby’s New York headquarters ahead of the high-drama sale.
Klimt masterpiece breaks Sotheby’s record
Meanwhile, Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer stirred up a 20-minute bidding war before smashing records as the most expensive artwork ever sold by Sotheby’s. The piece, portraying the daughter of one of Klimt’s patrons, is one of the few paintings of his that survived World War II, as it was stored separately from others lost in a castle fire.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer stirred up a 20-minute bidding war before smashing records as the most expensive artwork ever sold by Sotheby’s. The piece, portraying the daughter of one of Klimt’s patrons, is one of the few paintings of his that survived World War II, as it was stored separately from others lost in a castle fire.
{{/usCountry}}Both showstoppers came from the collection of billionaire Leonard A. Lauder, the Estée Lauder heir who passed away earlier this year.
Cattelan actually made two golden toilets in 2016. One famously sat in New York’s Guggenheim Museum, which once offered it to President Trump when he asked to borrow a Van Gogh. That same loo was later stolen from Blenheim Palace in England. Although two men were convicted, the toilet itself vanished, investigators think it was melted down.