A 74-year-old fruit vendor is receiving unexpected support after his ordinary banana sold for an extraordinary $6.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction. Shah Alam sold the banana for just 35 cents (Rs 29), not realizing that it would later become the centerpiece of Maurizio Cattelan’s artwork ‘Comedian’. A surreal sale of fruit taped to a gallery wall explores the absurdities of the art world.
Mr. Alam, a Bangladeshi immigrant who has lived in the United States since 2007, works for $12 an hour at a modest fruit stand on the Upper East Side, selling fresh produce to locals. He had no idea that the banana he sold to a visitor at Sotheby’s auction house would become a world-famous item selling for millions.
He burst into tears after hearing about the sale. “I’m a poor man,” he told a New York Times reporter. “I’ve never had money like this; I’ve never seen money like this.”
Living in a shared basement apartment in the Bronx, Mr. Alam works 12-hour shifts four days a week, regardless of the weather. Despite the unexpected windfall for Bananas, he felt as if the joke had been played at his expense. “What kind of people are those who bought it?” he asked. “Don’t they know what a banana is?”
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The banana was priced at $5.2 million at last week’s auction, with additional fees bringing the total amount to $6.2 million. The buyer, Chinese cryptocurrency mogul Justin Sun, said he praised Mr Alam’s role in the move.
Mr Sun, whose net worth is estimated at more than $1.4 billion, has also announced that he plans to buy 1 lakh bananas from Mr Alam’s stand as a gesture of gratitude. “To thank Mr. Shah Alam, I have decided to buy 100,000 bananas from his stand in New York’s Upper East Side,” Mr. Sun wrote on X. “These bananas will be distributed free around the world through their stands.”
To thank Mr. Shah Alam, I have decided to buy 100,000 bananas from his stand in New York’s Upper East Side. These bananas will be distributed free across the world through their stand. Show a valid ID to claim a banana while supplies last.
– That Justin Sun???? (@justinsuntron) 28 November 2024
Mr Sun’s support was not the only sign of solidarity. An anonymous New Yorker started a GoFundMe campaign to help Mr. Alam.
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“Do we really want to live in a city where we can ignore a street vendor who is reduced to tears… while also celebrating a few smart people for figuring out how to make $6 million from that prank? ” the organizer of the campaign, known only as “JS”, wrote. The fundraiser immediately raised $15,296 (Rs 12.93 lakh), with JS promising to deliver the money directly to Mr Alam.
“Next week (after Thanksgiving) I will walk into the fruit store myself and take a video of him handing over the money,” JS wrote. “If I don’t get it, GoFundMe will refund your money.”
