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A striking piece of contemporary art, a fully usable toilet made of 18-carat gold, has sold for $12.1 million.
Created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, the work titled America has drawn global attention ever since its first casting vanished in a 2019 theft at Blenheim Palace.
The latest version has now been acquired by Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, bringing the artwork back into the public eye.
Maurizio Cattelan, the Italian artist who once made headlines by taping a banana to a wall, is behind this glittering, 18-karat-gold toilet titled America. Weighing a hefty 101 kilograms, the piece opened with a starting bid of around $10 million.
Cattelan has always said the work pokes fun at the super-rich. “Whether you eat a $200 gourmet meal or a $2 hot dog, the result is the same,” he quipped once.
Sotheby’s called it a sharp, witty take on how art and money collide in today’s world. The second piece, owned by an unnamed collector, was displayed at Sotheby’s New York headquarters ahead of the high-drama sale.
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