«America», an 18 carat gold toilet weighing 101 kilograms created by Maurizio Cattelan in 2016, was sold at auction by Sotheby’s in New York for 12.1 million dollars, making the «Current and Contemporary Evening Auction» a sensation and once again reaffirming the burning power of the Paduan artist in the world of the global market.
New owner
The work was sold to a “famous American brand”, through Cassandra Hatton, vice president of science and natural history at Sotheby’s, who usually handles dinosaur skeletons.
Therefore, the world’s most famous toilet has a new owner. The “American” work, the only version in existence after the sensational theft of an example installed in Blenheim Palace, in England, in 2019, is presented with an initial price calculated based on the pure gold value (approximately 9.9 million dollars). An unprecedented move that turns sales into economic performance is in line with Cattelan’s conceptual spirit.
Before the auction, “America” was installed in the bathroom of the Breuer Building, Sotheby’s new headquarters in New York, to commemorate its public debut at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 2016, when more than 100,000 visitors had the opportunity to use it as a regular toilet. This gesture of everyday intimacy turned the work into a global media phenomenon, allowing Cattelan to once again subvert the concept of enjoying art.
Theft
This work, which was on loan from the Guggenheim to Blenheim Palace, was stolen in 2019 and was never found, which also caused flooding. The stolen work was never found, thought to have been destroyed and melted down to recover the gold.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
