Maurizio Cattelan's solid-gold toilet sculpture, *America* (2016), will be auctioned at Sotheby's New York on 18 November 2025 as part of the Now & Contemporary Evening Auction. The work, weighing 223 pounds of 18-karat gold, has a raw material value of around US$10.2 million based on current gold prices. In a first for auction history, the starting bid will fluctuate with live gold prices until bidding begins. The sculpture was previously installed at the Guggenheim Museum, where over 100,000 visitors used it, and later made headlines when the Guggenheim offered it to the Trump White House as a loan alternative to a Van Gogh painting. One edition was stolen and never recovered, making this the only surviving example.
This auction matters because it highlights the intersection of conceptual art, market speculation, and commodity value. Cattelan's work critiques art-world excess while itself becoming a record-breaking financial asset. The gold-price-linked bidding mechanism underscores how contemporary art increasingly functions as an alternative investment tied to global markets. The sale also revives debates about the boundaries of art, echoing Marcel Duchamp's *Fountain*, and tests whether Cattelan's provocative gesture can sustain its cultural and monetary value in a shifting economic landscape.