Gee whiz! <\/p>\n
A solid gold toilet that was made by the same controversial artist who duct-taped a banana to a wall sold for a staggering $12.1 million at a Sotheby\u2019s auction on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The 223-pound toilet, dubbed \u201cAmerica\u201d by its provocative maker Maurizio Cattelan, is entirely made up of 18-karat gold and had a starting bid of $10 million<\/a>, which matched the current pricing for the precious metal.<\/p>\n Mauizio Cattelan\u2019s \u201cAmerica\u201d sold for $12.1 million at a Sotheby\u2019s auction on Tuesday. REUTERS<\/p>\n The art, which functions just like a regular toilet and was even installed in Sotheby\u2019s New York headquarters for public viewing before the auction, is intended to satirize excessive wealth in the US, Cattelan explained.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever you eat, a $200 lunch or a $2 hot dog, the results are the same, toilet-wise,\u201d he once quipped.<\/p>\n The toilet\u2019s bid started at $10 million. Nancy Kaszerman\/ZUMA Press Wire \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n Cattelan added that he wanted to put something priceless in \u201cthe least noble and most necessary place\u201d to demonstrate the connection between high form and base functionality. <\/p>\n Sotheby\u2019s was less heavy-handed and referred to the porcelain throne as an \u201cincisive commentary on the collision of artistic production and commodity value.\u201d <\/p>\n Visitors thankfully weren\u2019t permitted to actually use the toilet while it was on display, though users have been invited to christen it previously. <\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want people sitting on the art,\u201d Sotheby\u2019s expert\u00a0David Galperin said.<\/p>\n The toilet was on display at Sotheby\u2019s New York headquarters, but visitors were not permitted to use it. AP<\/p>\n Ahead of the auction, the pricey potty was owned by an unnamed collector. Cattelan originally made two in 2016, and one was briefly displayed at New York\u2019s Guggenheim Museum.<\/p>\n When the Guggenheim Museum was still in possession of the coveted pissoir, it cheekily offered to lend it to President Trump in response to his bizarre request to borrow a Van Gogh painting.<\/p>\n The toilet is made of 18-karat gold. REUTERS<\/p>\n The toilet traveled from New York to England and was featured at the Blenheim Palace, where it was later stolen. <\/p>\n Two men were convicted in the honey bucket heist, but investigators never recovered the gilded toilet. <\/p>\n Authorities eventually concluded that it must\u2019ve been broken up and melted down, similarly to the jewels stolen from the Louvre Museum<\/a> in late October.<\/p>\n Cattelan\u2019s previous works include \u201cComedian,\u201d which sold for $6 million. Stefano Giovannini<\/p>\n Some of Cattelan\u2019s previous works include the \u201cComedian,\u201d which features a banana duct-taped to a wall. It became a pop culture sensation practically overnight and sold for a whopping $6 million.<\/p>\n