Particle.news
Download on the App Store
15 ARTICLES
·
7h ago

Sotheby’s Sets Cattelan’s Solid‑Gold Toilet for Nov. 18 Auction With Bidding Tied to Gold’s Price

The auction opens at the work’s bullion value to gauge what collectors will pay beyond material worth.

The conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan’s toilet, “America,” is believed to be gone forever, following an audacious heist in 2019. But a second version, created the same year as the original, has surfaced unexpectedly on the art market.
“America” at Benheim Palace, photographed two days before it was stolen.
“America” in its original location at the Guggenheim. It will now be installed at Sotheby's New York, but for visitors' eyes only.
The Guggenheim said some 100,000 museumgoers lined up to see — and use — the sculpture when the museum installed it in a small bathroom for a year.

Overview

  • Sotheby’s will sell Maurizio Cattelan’s America in New York on November 18, with public viewing in a Breuer Building bathroom from November 8 where visitors may look but not use it.
  • Sotheby’s describes the work as the only extant version; this edition was made in 2016 and acquired from Marian Goodman Gallery by the current owner in 2017.
  • Opening bid will equal the value of its 101.2 kilograms of 18-karat gold, estimated at about $10 million based on current prices.
  • The auction house will accept cryptocurrency for payment and says there is no irrevocable bid in place ahead of the sale.
  • More than 100,000 people used the toilet during its Guggenheim display, and a separate edition shown at Blenheim Palace in 2019 was stolen, never recovered, and led to convictions earlier this year.