A gold toilet selling for $12.1 million at a Sotheby’s auction on Tuesday, as the unexpected sale pushed one of Maurizio Cattelan’s most talked-about creations back into the spotlight.
The artwork, which had already gained global attention in past years, was again at the center of wide discussion due to its unusual form and striking price.
Moreover, the high-value sale has raised fresh questions about luxury, excess, and the art market.
The piece, titled “America,” is a fully functioning toilet made entirely from 18-karat gold, and it was put forward with a starting bid of $10 million.
It was created to challenge ideas about wealth in the simplest, yet boldest way.
As Cattelan once said, “Whatever you eat, a $200 lunch or a $2 hot dog, the results are the same, toilet-wise.”
That quote has often been used to describe the work’s meaning, and in this context, it adds humor to an otherwise surprising moment in the art world.
Before the auction, the 223-pound toilet was placed at Sotheby’s New York headquarters for public viewing.
Visitors were allowed to see it up close; however, they were not allowed to use it.
“We don’t want people sitting on the art,” Sotheby’s expert David Galperin explained.
In addition, the company described the golden fixture as an “incisive commentary on the collision of artistic production and commodity value,”.
The sale was unexpected not only due to the object itself but also because of its unusual history.
One of the two golden toilets made by Cattelan in 2016 was previously displayed at the Guggenheim Museum.
When it was still there, the museum once jokingly offered it to President Trump after he asked to borrow a Van Gogh painting.
Meanwhile, the same toilet was later shown at Blenheim Palace in England, where it was stolen during a nighttime raid.
Furthermore, while two men were convicted in connection to the theft, the toilet was never recovered.
Investigators eventually believed it had been melted down, much like the jewels stolen from the Louvre Museum in late October.
Cattelan, known widely for works that combine humor with shock value, also created the viral piece “Comedian,” which featured a banana taped to a wall.
That artwork sold for millions as well, though it had to be replaced multiple times because the banana spoiled or was eaten by quick-thinking visitors.
In addition, the artist has often pushed boundaries with simple objects, making viewers rethink everyday ideas.
