Maurizio Cattelan's banana sculpture *Comedian* (2019) was stolen again from the Centre Pompidou-Metz in France, where it is on view in the exhibition "Dimanche Sans Fin." The thief remains at large, and the museum quickly replaced the banana per the artist's protocol. This marks the second incident at the same venue; a previous visitor ate the fruit in 2025. The work has a history of being consumed, starting with performance artist David Daturna at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019, followed by a Seoul art student, and later by crypto billionaire Justin Sun after he bought the piece for $6.2 million at Sotheby's in 2024.
The incident matters because it reignites debates about the nature of conceptual art, authenticity, and the value of perishable materials. The Centre Pompidou-Metz has filed an official complaint for the first time, signaling a shift from treating the act as a prank to a legal matter. The artwork's value resides in its certificate of authenticity and display protocol, not the banana itself, yet each theft or consumption adds to its notoriety and cultural resonance, underscoring how performance and audience interaction have become integral to Cattelan's piece.