The famous golden toilet by Maurizio Cattelan, America, achieved a million-dollar result at Sotheby’s, confirming, through bull and bear markets, the provocative power of the Italian artist.
How much did Cattelan’s golden toilet achieve at Sotheby’s?
On the evening of November 18, 2025, in New York, the work America (2016) by Maurizio Cattelan was sold for 12.1 million dollars, including fees. The sculpture is a fully functioning toilet made of 18-karat gold, weighing about 220 pounds, modeled on a standard Kohler fixture.
The piece had been installed in a bathroom at Sotheby’s new headquarters in the Breuer Building, former Whitney Museum of American Art, ahead of the sale. Visitors could observe it, but not use it, and the installation generated long lines, confirming the media impact of the work.
How was America presented at the Guggenheim in 2016?
When it debuted at the Guggenheim Museum in 2016, about a mile further north, the public could actually use the toilet. Many waited hours to try it, and over the course of the year-long exhibition, more than 100,000 people visited the room that housed it.
The work, made of solid gold, satirizes capitalism, social inequalities, and institutional vanity. However, its symbolic function has always been central: at Sotheby’s, unlike at the Guggenheim, no real use of the fixture was allowed.
What was the starting estimate and how did the auction unfold?
In a conceptual play consistent with the spirit of the work, the starting bid was set by Sotheby’s in line with its weight in 18-karat gold: about 9.93 million dollars. Auctioneer Phyllis Kao rounded it up to 10 million, opening the bidding at that figure.
From there, however, the bids did not take off. The sculpture was finally awarded to Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman of Sotheby’s, at the same starting amount. With fees, the total rose to 12.1 million dollars, an important result but below the expectations created by the spectacular presentation.
Kao tried to lighten the mood with jokes aimed at stirring the room. She asked attendees if they felt “in the mood to flush” their wallets, and if anyone was ready to dethrone Hatton “from the throne.” She added that their opportunities “were going down the drain,” but no further bids came.
Who was the seller and how many copies of America exist?
The piece auctioned comes from an edition of three plus two artist’s proofs, but it is one of only two ever actually made. It was consigned to Sotheby’s by hedge funder Steve Cohen, owner of the New York Mets, who had purchased it through the Marian Goodman Gallery for an undisclosed amount.
Cohen had then covered the production costs of the golden toilet, likely bringing his total investment to around 5 million dollars. Moreover, this piece is now the only physically existing golden Cattelan, as the other disappeared after a sensational theft.
Why is America considered a key work of Cattelan?
According to David Galperin, head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s New York, “America is the tour de force of Maurizio Cattelan.” The work, he stated in a note, acts as a metaphorical and literal mirror for the art system, questioning the mechanisms of the market and the sanctity attributed to museum institutions.
Despite this, the result of 12.1 million remained far from the artist’s auction record. That record still belongs to Him (2001), a kneeling mannequin with its back turned that, when viewed from the front, reveals the miniaturized face of Adolf Hitler. The work had reached 17.2 million dollars at Christie’s in 2016.
How does America fit into Cattelan’s provocative career?
Cattelan’s stature as a great provocateur of the art system was also reaffirmed by another recent work, Comedian (2019), the famous banana taped to the wall. In 2024, a piece was sold by Sotheby’s for 6.2 million dollars.
The buyer was Justin Sun, a Chinese entrepreneur in the cryptocurrency sector, a figure at the center of several controversies. In a press conference in Hong Kong on November 29, 2024, Sun ate the banana in front of journalists, accentuating the ephemeral and media nature of the work. He later donated Comedian to Ross Ulbricht, founder of the dark web marketplace Silk Road, who was pardoned after a life sentence.
What happened to the other version of the golden toilet?
The edition of America presented at the Guggenheim had a decidedly turbulent history. Initially, the museum had offered it on loan to the first Trump administration, after rejecting a request for a Vincent van Gogh painting. The White House declined the offer, sparking a strong media debate.
Subsequently, in 2019, the same toilet was installed at Blenheim Palace, a baroque residence of the Duke of Marlborough often compared to Versailles. It was there that it was stolen, in one of the most sensational heists of recent years. In early 2025, two men were found guilty of the theft and sentenced to prison by British authorities.
The golden toilet has never been recovered. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, it is likely that it was dismantled and sold in pieces. Cattelan described the episode as “one of the most bizarre thefts of the century.” The Marian Goodman Gallery considers that version lost forever, an element that makes the sculpture now passed at Sotheby’s more unique.
What is the broader significance of this sale?
Overall, the result of 12.1 million confirms the work’s ability to capture attention and capital, while remaining below the peaks reached by other works of Cattelan. Additionally, the theft at Blenheim Palace and the definitive disappearance of the other piece accentuate the symbolic and rarity value of the only remaining golden toilet.
The story of America has been reconstructed and updated multiple times by the international press, including coverage by outlets like Artnet News and reports on the trials published by the Crown Prosecution Service. That said, the New York sale marks a new chapter in the long saga of Maurizio Cattelan’s golden toilet.
As expert in digital marketing, Amelia began working in the fintech sector in 2014 after writing her thesis on Bitcoin technology. Previously author for several international crypto-related magazines and CMO at Eidoo. She is now the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Cryptonomist and Econique.
She is also a marketing teacher at Digital Coach in Milan and she published a book about NFTs for the Italian publishing house Mondadori, while she is also helping artists and company to entering in the sector. As advisor, Amelia is also involved in metaverse-related project such as The Nemesis and OVER.
