A Toilet That Flushes Away Expectations
There’s a toilet in New York that just made someone $12.1 million richer. It’s not the plumbing contractor down the street. It’s Maurizio Cattelan, the Italian provocateur who redefines how far an idea can go when it’s backed by gold—specifically, 18 karats of it.
Titled America, the sculpture is precisely what it sounds like: a fully operational, solid gold toilet weighing just over 100 kilograms. It was auctioned off at Sotheby’s in November 2025. Functional, yes. Ornamental, certainly. But above all, it’s a statement—one that echoes loudly in both museum halls and auction houses.
The Weight of Gold and Irony
This isn’t the first time Cattelan has sent the art world into an existential loop. In 2024, he presented a banana duct-taped to a wall—titled Comedian—that fetched $6.2 million. It wasn’t preserved. The buyer, Chinese entrepreneur Justin Sun, ate it.
Back to America: this is one of only two known editions. The first was shown at New York’s Guggenheim Museum in 2016, where thousands of visitors lined up for the chance to use it. As in, physically use it. At the time, the piece was viewed as a luxury satire with a functional twist—more performance than pedestal.
That original version was later installed at Blenheim Palace in England, where it was stolen in 2019 in an early morning raid that left flooding damage behind. Two suspects were eventually convicted in 2025, but the golden throne remains missing. That made the second version, which sold at Sotheby’s, the last of its kind.
Where Art, Absurdity and Auction Bids Collide
The sale was more than just a flashy transaction. While the price was pegged in part to the market value of gold—101.2 kilograms of 18-karat material doesn’t come cheap—the real value came from provenance and notoriety. This wasn’t just a sculpture. It was a relic of pop-cultural curiosity.
Sotheby’s began the bidding with valuation guidance linked to the physical gold. But bidders clearly wanted more than metal. By the time the gavel fell, the final sum—$12.1 million—positioned the toilet as one of the most expensive pieces of functioning conceptual art sold in recent years.
The buyer? Anonymous, naturally. Though one imagines their powder room is now unusually secure.
Cattelan: From Satire to Sales
Maurizio Cattelan doesn’t do artist statements. He lets the headlines do that for him. Known for his subversive wit, he’s also responsible for Him, a sculpture depicting Adolf Hitler kneeling in prayer, which sold for $17.2 million in 2016. He also once staged a fake hanging of himself at a 2004 retrospective in Milan.
He’s never been predictable. But he’s always been recognisable.
He has no formal online presence. He doesn’t post. He rarely explains. And yet his works—often humorous, always puzzling—end up splashed across social media and covered by every major outlet from The Guardian to the New York Post.
Theft, Toilets, and Time
The theft of the first edition at Blenheim Palace adds a peculiar twist to the story. It was torn out during opening weekend in 2019. A trail of water damage followed. For years, the piece was listed among the UK’s most baffling unsolved art crimes.
Two men were finally convicted in early 2025. Still, the toilet has not resurfaced. It’s unclear whether it was melted down or hidden away in someone’s private gallery—or guest bathroom.
That mystery only added to the aura of the remaining edition. Its authenticity was verified, its story intact, and with its twin forever gone, scarcity drove up the stakes. The sculpture wasn’t just an artwork—it was a survivor of sorts.
From Wall to Bowl: The Banana Still Matters
The $6.2 million banana isn’t going away either.
It made headlines again when Justin Sun, who bought Comedian, ate the banana in public. Cattelan did not object. In fact, the stunt reinforced the work’s conceptual core: the ephemeral nature of value and the idea that meaning comes from the act, not the object.
Both the banana and the toilet highlight the thin line between art and spectacle, between critique and complicity. And both have sold for millions.
Not Just a Gimmick
Sotheby’s didn’t treat America as a novelty. It was promoted with gravitas, not gimmickry. The press materials referred to it as a “monumental work of conceptual sculpture”. There were no banana peels in sight.
This sale underlines the worldwide popularity of art even as it may be linked to its material incarnation. It’s not the gold, the duct tape, or the flush mechanism—it’s the story, the spectacle, and the swirl of public conversation that make these pieces valuable.
Market Appetite and Material Wealth
Gold prices at the time of the auction hovered around $60 per gram. With 101.2 kilograms in play, that’s about $6 million in raw material. The final bid doubled that.
That’s the power of narrative value: when a functioning toilet with a criminal record, a history of public use, and a media trail longer than its plumbing sells for more than its weight in gold.
The art market isn’t just collecting objects—it’s collecting headlines.
Final Thoughts: No Flush Needed
Cattelan may not be everyone’s definition of an artist. But his work consistently draws eyes, arguments, and opening bids in the millions.
Whether you’re repulsed, fascinated, confused, or entertained, you’re still paying attention. And that might just be the point.