​Eaten four times, and now stolen: Maurizio Cattelan's famous ‘banana’ has vanished again and internet is absolutely losing it​

There are art heists, and then there’s this: someone swiping a banana taped to a wall.

It may sound like a joke, but a French museum just lost the centerpiece of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s famous artwork Comedian, which literally is nothing more than a banana attached to a wall with silver duct tape.

And the internet is spinning into chaos, and nobody can figure out if this story is supposed to be performance art, true crime, or some absurdist sitcom.

The theft happened at Centre Pompidou-Metz in France. Staff realized the banana had vanished, filed a police report, and started investigating. The wildest part? The museum just replaced the missing banana almost instantly, no drama. Yes — that’s actually in the official instructions for how to care for the artwork.

So, what is it about this wildly popular, multimillion-dollar artwork by Maurizio Cattelan that doesn’t stop being the centre of such hilarious activities and attention? What is this artwork? What does it represent? And what makes it so irresistible?

Let’s unpack.

Created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan in 2019, ‘Comedian’ is a conceptual artwork that consists of an ordinary fresh banana duct-taped to a wall. Yes — just that! It first debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach and went viral in almost no time. The core concept behind the artwork? It critiques and satirizes the art market's obsession with spectacle and commodification. And the banana itself isn’t actually the art. You aren't buying the physical fruit or tape; the artwork is actually a certificate of authenticity paired with a 14-page booklet of strict installation instructions. What collectors buy is the certificate of authenticity and rules for display and replacing the fruit. The concept is the art. The banana? Just a very temporary stand-in.

Even though it looks like something you could whip up right before your college art project is due, Comedian has made waves worldwide. When it debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach, editions sold for $120,000. In 2024, one version sold for over $6.2 million after fees at Sotheby’s. Clearly, the art market works in mysterious ways.

The latest theft has only made the artwork more famous — ridiculous, yes — but more popular nevertheless. The Internet went bananas, and social media had a field day with it. It exploded in memes and jokes. Many people wondered if the thief was just hungry, desperate for art, or wanted the world’s priciest fruit salad. One internet user summed up the mood: “Imagine explaining to your cellmate that you’re in prison for stealing a million-dollar banana.”

However, some people pointed out that if you steal the banana, you don’t actually get the value. The money’s in the certificate, not the fruit. Some joked about the insurance claim, which probably reads like satire. After all, it’s fruit, art, commentary on crime and economics — all mashed together.

It might sound even more strange, but this isn’t the first time the banana’s gotten eaten or stolen.

In December 2019, during its debut at Art Basel Miami, performance artist David Datuna pulled it from the wall at Art Basel and ate it, calling his own performance “Hungry Artist,” which itself is an exhibit on the socio-economic scenario of artists around the world. The museum replaced the banana, no big deal.

In April 2023, a student at the Leeum Museum in Seoul did the same because he said he skipped breakfast. He taped the peel back up, though.

In November 2024, Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun purchased the $6.24 million artwork at auction, and subsequently ate the banana on camera.

And then, last year, in July 2025, someone ate the banana at Pompidou-Metz. Again, the artwork survived — just slap another banana on the wall.

Turns out, it’s probably the only multimillion-dollar artwork threatened mostly by mild hunger!

The multimillion-dollar artwork has been eaten at least four times already, and this time, it vanished once again. The museum isn’t worried, though. The banana always gets replaced after a few days because, naturally, it rots. Curators say the “perishable element” disappearing doesn’t matter. Again, that’s normal in conceptual art.

But every time this happens, the public asks: How can a banana taped to a wall possibly be worth millions?

According to art experts, it’s not about the fruit. It’s a comment on value, consumer culture, scarcity, spectacle, and the art market. Comedian is like a giant social experiment: if people laugh, argue, photograph, steal, eat, or post about it, the artwork is doing what it was meant to. Some buy that delicious idea; others think it’s ridiculous. And that’s why Comedian keeps coming back to the headlines year after year, even after vanishing!