Golden Toilet Artwork Returns to Auction for $10 Million.

16 hours ago7 min read

The art world is buzzing with the kind of scandalous, headline-grabbing drama it absolutely adores, as Maurizio Cattelan’s infamous golden toilet, provocatively titled 'America,' is set for a glittering comeback at Sotheby’s New York this November. Forget your standard porcelain; this is a fully functional, jaw-dropping 18-karat gold masterpiece, and it’s hitting the auction block with a starting bid of a cool $10 million—a figure that, in a deliciously ironic twist, is roughly equivalent to the sheer value of its molten gold weight.This isn't just a sale; it's a red-carpet event for the one-percenters, a spectacle of extreme luxury that feels ripped from a reality TV show plotline. The piece first made waves—quite literally—when it was installed as an interactive exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum in 2017, where queues of brave visitors could actually book a three-minute appointment to use the lavish loo, a performance art piece that brilliantly blurred the lines between opulence and the utterly mundane, offering a truly flushable critique of wealth and consumerism.Its journey, however, has been anything but pristine; the artwork was famously stolen in a dramatic 2019 heist from Blenheim Palace in the UK, a caper worthy of a Hollywood script that left the golden throne missing, presumed melted down, only for it to be recovered, battered but intact, adding a layer of true-crime mystique to its already considerable allure. Now, its return to Sotheby’s is the ultimate comeback story, a second act dripping with both literal and metaphorical value.Imagine the scene: the hushed, hallowed halls of the auction house, filled with billionaires and elite collectors, their paddles poised not just for an art acquisition but for a tangible piece of contemporary art history, a conversation starter so potent it could single-handedly define a legacy. What does it say about our culture that an object representing ultimate waste can command a price tag that could fund entire community initiatives? Cattelan, the art world’s premier prankster, has always specialized in this kind of witty, uncomfortable commentary, holding a mirror up to society’s excesses, and with 'America,' he created a symbol that is simultaneously ridiculous and profoundly insightful. As the gavel prepares to fall, one can’t help but wonder who will ultimately take possession of this throne—will it be a tech mogul seeking the ultimate flex, a private collector looking for the crown jewel of their provocative collection, or perhaps an institution aiming to preserve its potent message? Regardless, the sale of 'America' is more than a transaction; it's a glittering, glamorous, and utterly captivating moment that encapsulates the bizarre and brilliant theater of the modern art market, proving once again that in the world of high art, sometimes the most powerful statements are made not on the wall, but in the water closet.

#featured

#Maurizio Cattelan

#America

#golden toilet

#Sotheby's

#art auction

#contemporary art

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