Fruit vendor 'devastated' after banana he sold to 'artist' goes for $6,200,000 at auction
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: John Nacion/Getty/PETER PARKS/Getty
A fruit vendor has been left 'devastated' after a banana he sold at regular price has gone one to be sold for a whopping $6.2 million at auction.
I know what you're thinking... how on earth does the much-loved fruit sell for millions of dollars?
Well, the piece of fruit became part of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's 'Comedian' piece, with it garnering worldwide attention for the fact it's simply a singular banana stuck to a wall with a piece of duct tape.
It was Justin Sun who purchased the piece after fighting competition from six other buyers a Sotheby's auction in New York earlier this month.
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"I believe this piece will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and will become a part of history," Sun explained in a post on Twitter.
"I am honored to be the proud owner of this iconic work and look forward to it sparking further inspiration and impact for art enthusiasts around the world."
Shah Alam, a fruit seller who works a sidewalk stand outside Sotheby’s, sold the banana for 35 cents and had no idea it was sold for an astonishing amount until recently.
The 74-year-old, who works four days a week and earns $12 an hour, was told by a Times reporter this week about the massive sale.
The Times reports Alam was left with a tear in his eye when he heard the new information.
He told the reporter: "I am a poor man. I have never had this kind of money; I have never seen this kind of money."
The fruit seller pays $500 a month to live in a basement apartment with five other men in The Bronx, and brings home $576 a week through his job.
Speaking further of the art piece being sold, Alam added to the reporter: "Those who bought it, what kind of people are they? Do they not know what a banana is?"
Sun, the new owner of the art piece, took to Twitter on Thursday to state he would pay for more bananas off the fruit seller.
He wrote: "To thank Mr. Shah Alam, I’ve decided to buy 100,000 bananas from his stand in New York’s Upper East Side. These bananas will be distributed free worldwide through his stand."
The unique-looking art piece was first displayed at Art Basel Miami back in 2019, where it was listed for a lower $120,000.
Three editions have been purchased, though none for as staggeringly high as the edition copped by Sun.