A single banana duct-taped to a wall sold for an astronomical price during an international art fair in Florida.
The work by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was bought for US$120,000 (NS$183,000) at Art Basel in Miami Beach, and is one of two editions of the piece that has already sold. The third is expected to sell for US$150,000, according to art market website Artnet.
Titled 'Comedian', the work comprises of a banana and a strip of grey duct tape.
The piece was presented by Galerie Perrotin, a contemporary art gallery that has a long association with Cattelan.
Emmanual Perrotin, the gallery founder, told Artnet he couldn't believe the stir the work was causing.
"It's a miracle; I don't know how this happened," he said.
Cattelan is known as "an art world prankster", but Perrotin said every aspect of the work was considered, from the shape of the banana to the angle it's affixed on the wall.
Potential buyers don't receive instructions on what to do if the banana starts to decompose.
Cattelan is also the artist behind the 18-carat gold toilet, which visitors to the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York could pay to use.
The toilet was moved to an art exhibition in Blenheim Palace, United Kingdom, but it was later stolen.
