No longer sticking in the Center Pompidou: Maurizio Cattelan’s banana Image: www.imago-images.de
June 1, 2026, 3:34 p.mJune 1, 2026, 3:34 p.m
“Comedian” by Maurizio Cattelan has long been more than just a banana on the wall with adhesive tape over it: it has now been stolen from an exhibition at the Center Pompidou.
According to its own information, the facility has filed a complaint against unknown persons. Since 2019, the fruit has already experienced astonishing interventions: it has been eaten several times.
According to the museum, a security guard noticed the banana was missing over the weekend. It has since been replaced. It caused a stir in the facility back in July 2025 when a visitor ate the fruit. “Comedian” will be shown in the exhibition “Dimanche sans fin” which runs until June 27th.
There are several copies
“Comedian” exists in several copies. The fruit, which is attached with adhesive tape and is intended to encourage viewers to question their view of art and its value, has already been eaten by several people.
The first was the contemporary artist David Datuna, who simply peeled off the banana at Art Basel Miami in 2019 and ate it while shouting: “Respect, Maurizio!” He later called himself “the first artist to eat another artist’s art.” In 2023, a Korean student ate the banana at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul. He said he was hungry and that the work was “there to be eaten.”
The following year, entrepreneur Justin Sun also ate the banana – after buying it for $5.2 million. He jokingly commented: “It’s better than the other bananas.” (sda/dpa)