Shah Alam, a 74-year-old Bangladeshi fruit vendor in Manhattan, was shocked to discover that a banana he sold for 35 cents was later auctioned off for $6.2 million at Sotheby’s auction house as the centerpiece of artist Maurizio Cattelan’s artwork called “Comedian.” The piece, which features the banana duct-taped to a wall, was purchased by entrepreneur Justin Sun on Nov. 20.
- A banana’s value: Alam, who lives in a basement apartment in the Bronx and works 12-hour shifts at a fruit stand outside the auction house, was moved to tears after learning of the sale from a reporter. “I am a poor man,” he told The New York Times. “I have never had this kind of money; I have never seen this kind of money.” He also questioned the sanity of those involved, asking: “Those who bought it, what kind of people are they? Do they not know what a banana is?”
- Art or cruel joke?: The stark contrast between Alam’s circumstances and the artwork’s exorbitant price tag has resonated with many. An anonymous individual even launched a GoFundMe campaign to support Alam, with a promise to match donations up to $5,000. “Do we really want to live in a city where we can shrug off a street vendor who’s moved to tears by the fact that he’s been made the butt of a joke involving an amount of wealth obscene to him?” the GoFundMe page asks. The campaign has raised over $14,650 as of this writing.
- Abandoned plan: Sun, whose net worth is estimated to be $1.4 billion, initially planned to purchase $25,000 worth of bananas from Alam’s stand and distribute them globally for free. However, this plan was quickly abandoned due to logistical and financial challenges involved in procuring and transporting such a large quantity of fruit that Alam himself pointed out.
