Cattelan's Golden Toilet Heads to Sotheby's Auction

The $10 Million Golden Toilet That Shook the Art World

Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's controversial golden toilet, titled America, is making headlines once again as it prepares for auction at Sotheby's in New York this November. The fully functional 18-karat solid gold toilet, weighing approximately 101 kilograms (220 pounds), carries a starting bid of $10 million, making it one of the most valuable and talked-about artworks of contemporary times.

A Provocative Statement on Wealth and Society

Cattelan, known for his satirical and often provocative artworks, created America in 2016 as a sharp commentary on wealth inequality and consumer culture. The toilet first gained international fame when it was installed in a public restroom at New York's Guggenheim Museum in 2017, where over 100,000 visitors lined up for the unique opportunity to use a multi-million dollar toilet. 'What you eat, a $200 lunch or a $2 hot dog, the results are the same when it comes to the toilet,' Cattelan famously remarked about his creation.

The artwork represents a continuation of Marcel Duchamp's readymade tradition, where ordinary objects are transformed into art through context and concept. However, Cattelan takes this further by making the object fully functional and placing it in the most democratic of spaces - a public bathroom.

A Turbulent History of Theft and Recovery

The version heading to auction has a particularly dramatic backstory. In 2019, another edition of America was stolen from Blenheim Palace in England, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, during an exhibition. The thieves caused significant structural damage during the heist, and the stolen toilet was never recovered, likely melted down for its precious metal value. This incident only added to the artwork's notoriety and cultural significance.

The current piece being auctioned is owned by a private collector and represents the only known surviving version of this iconic work. Sotheby's describes the artwork as 'a sharp commentary on the boundary between art and material value' and expects significant interest from collectors worldwide.

Cattelan's Legacy of Controversial Art

This isn't Cattelan's first brush with controversy or high auction prices. His duct-taped banana artwork Comedian sold for $6.2 million in 2024, while his wax sculpture of Adolf Hitler kneeling in prayer, titled Him, fetched $17.2 million. These works, like America, challenge traditional notions of art and value while generating significant public discussion.

The golden toilet will be displayed in a bathroom setting during the auction preview, though visitors will not be permitted to use it this time. The starting bid is directly tied to the current market value of the gold used in its creation, which fluctuates with precious metal prices.

As art critic Jonathan P. Binstock noted about Cattelan's work, 'He is one of the great post-Duchampian artists and a smartass, too.' This combination of conceptual depth and irreverent humor has made Cattelan one of the most significant contemporary artists of our time, with America standing as perhaps his most iconic and provocative creation.

The auction at Sotheby's represents not just the sale of an artwork, but a cultural moment that continues to question what we value in art and society. As the art market continues to reach new heights, Cattelan's golden toilet serves as both a luxury object and a critical mirror reflecting our relationship with wealth, art, and the everyday.