Fully functional 18-karat gold toilet sells for $12M at Sotheby’s auction
Mauizio Cattelan’s “America” sold for $12.1 million at a Sotheby’s auction on Tuesday. REUTERS
A solid gold toilet by the provocative Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan sold for a jaw-dropping $12.1 million at a Sotheby’s auction on Tuesday. Cattelan, who gained notoriety for duct-taping a banana to a wall, created the 223-pound fixture entirely from 18-karat gold. The piece, titled America, had a starting bid of $10 million—roughly matching the current market value of the precious metal.
Installed at Sotheby’s New York headquarters for public viewing prior to the sale, the fully functional toilet was intended to satirize extreme wealth in the United States. “Whatever you eat, a $200 lunch or a $2 hot dog, the results are the same, toilet-wise,” Cattelan once quipped. He added that he wanted to place something priceless in “the least noble and most necessary place,” highlighting the contrast between high art and everyday function.
Sotheby’s described the piece as “an incisive commentary on the collision of artistic production and commodity value.” Visitors were not allowed to use the toilet during its display, though in previous settings, users had been invited to experience the work firsthand.
Prior to the auction, America was held by an anonymous collector. Cattelan originally created two in 2016, one of which was briefly displayed at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. When the Guggenheim still possessed the piece, it jokingly offered to lend it to President Trump after his unusual request to borrow a Van Gogh painting.
The toilet later traveled to Blenheim Palace in England, where it was stolen. Two men were convicted for the heist, but authorities never recovered the gilded fixture. Investigators concluded it was likely destroyed and melted down, much like the jewels stolen from the Louvre Museum in late October.
Cattelan’s other works include Comedian, the infamous banana duct-taped to a wall, which became a viral sensation and sold for $6 million. Replicas were created multiple times after the original bananas either spoiled or were eaten by visitors.
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