The famous banana presented in the “Sunday Without End” exhibition at the Pompidou center in Metz disappeared this Sunday.
No more bananas in the Pompidou-Metz center. In a press release published on Sunday May 31, the Metz museum indicated that the work Comedy by Maurizio Cattelan, consisting of a banana taped to the wall with a piece of gray adhesive, had been stolen.
According to the proceedings provided by the museum, a museum surveillance agent noticed the disappearance of the banana around 2 p.m. Saturday. The Center Pompidou-Metz announced that it was filing a complaint against X after this theft.
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“The perishable element” quickly replaced
«The value of the work  lies in its certificate of authenticity and in the protocol that governs its presentation rather than in its perishable element,” indicates the museum. Who “Nevertheless condemns this act, which undermines respect for the works exhibited and temporarily deprives visitors of part of the experience offered by the exhibition”. The exhibition center nevertheless wants to be reassuring because “No irreversible damage was noted.” Moreover, «lélément périssable» was replaced as quickly as possible.
Créée en 2019, Comedianwhich questions the notion of art and its value, is presented as part of the exhibition Endless Sunday beginning in May 2025 and which will end on January 25, 2027. Comedian exists in three copies. The taped fruit, supposed to question the spectator about his vision of art and its value, had already been the victim of other mishaps. Presented for the first time in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Beach, the banana was eaten by another artist who wanted to denounce its price (which amounted to $120,000 at the time). In 2024, the founder of the cryptocurrency platform Justin Tron Sun acquired another copy for $6.2 million at an auction. Before swallowing it, a few days later, in front of journalists. “It’s much better than other bananas”he declared after swallowing the first mouthful.
In July 2025, at the Center Pompidou-Metz, the fruit was again eaten by a visitor. “We then identified the person who had claimed responsibility” the fact on social networks, Elsa De Smet, the communications manager, told AFP. “Rather than eating the banana with its skin and its tape, the visitor was content to consume the fruit,” Maurizio Cattelan, for his part, soberly replied.
