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Sotheby’s to Auction Cattelan’s Solid‑Gold Toilet on Nov. 18 With Bidding Pegged to Gold Price

The sale probes the gap between material worth and artistic value.

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 offer Maurizio Cattelan’s fully functioning 18‑karat gold toilet, America (2016), in its New York evening sale on November 18.
  • Bidding will start at the work’s raw gold value, estimated around $10 million and set to fluctuate with the market until the auction begins.
  • Sotheby’s describes this as the only surviving edition, after a counterpart shown at Blenheim Palace was stolen in 2019; two men were convicted this year and investigators believe the stolen piece was likely melted down.
  • The consigned example has been in the hands of an unnamed private collector since 2017, according to the auction house.
  • The sculpture will be on public view in a bathroom at Sotheby’s Breuer Building headquarters from November 8–17, with close‑up viewing allowed but no use permitted.