Art banana sold for €11.000
COPENHAGEN
DENMARK
AUGUST 31, 2025
LENGTH: 04:53
PRODUCER ANDERS KONGSHAUG
SOURCE: dkvnr
FREE COPYRIGHT ON ALL PLATFORMS
STORY
A banana, cut open to resemble a vulva, has been set and sold for €11,000 in Copenhagen, Denmark — a price that is itself a statement by female artist Thyra Hilden – and is expected to raise in price.
It was set high, because for a banana it seems absurd, but it was deliberately 10% of the male version of a banana.
The sale created a stir at Scandinavia’s biggest art fair, Enter Art Fair.
The buyer, Anders Andersen, founder of Ordning, a co-working office concept, admits the price might sound ridiculous — but he hopes the real value will come from what the female artist herself wishes to express through the work.
The Danish artist, Thyra Hilden, says she hopes the banana-vulva will spark dialogue around feminine equality in art, and in society at large.
The price also points to inequality: it is only about 10% of the price of the male version sold years earlier.
For comparison, the so-called male version — a banana with tape — titled Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan, was first shown at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019.
It originally cost $120,000 USD, but later soared to a record sale of $6.24 million at Sotheby’s on November 20th, 2024 — purchased by crypto founder Justin Sun.
Bananas have long had a place in art history:
Andy Warhol’s famous yellow banana from 1967, immortalized on the album cover for The Velvet Underground & Nico.
And earlier still, Giorgio de Chirico’s surrealist painting The Uncertainty of the Poet from 1913 — bananas set against marble and mystery, describing dreams and uncertainty.
In practice, the buyer of this new piece also acquires the copyright — and will replace the banana every day, renewing the work in an ongoing ritual.
Or, as Andersen put it: “we will simply throw it away if we don’t eat it.”
Enter Art Fair is Scandinavia’s largest international art fair with galleries from more than 20 countries and 40–45 cities, showcasing works by over 350 international artists.
Enter Art Fair held annually in Copenhagen at the end of August.
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SHOT LIST:
- CLOSE UP OF BANANA ARTWORK
- THYRA HILDEN NEXT TO ARTWORK
- ENTRANCE TO ENTER ART FAIR, SCANDINAVIA’S BIGGEST ART FAIR
- THYRA HILDEN STANDS NEXT TO HER ARTWORK
- GUEST WHO BOUGHT THE ARTWORK SHOWS HIS RED DOT
- SOUNDBITE Anders Andersen, Chief Executive Officer:
“No doubt that the prize itself is extremely high, and it’s also kind of ridiculous. I think everyone can see that, it’s not worth paying that much amount for a banana, but when you have taken that discussion, then I hope next level will be that you will start to consider it what the artist herself wants to tell with this piece of art.” - GIRL IN BLUE AND OTHERS TAKING PICTURES OF THE ARTWORK
- SOUNDBITE Thyra Hilden, artist:
“I have created this work “Equal satire”, where I have cut a very potent figure into something very feminine and created a feminine force. And it’s to spread with humor, discussion around equality.” - THYRA HILDEN TALKS WITH GUESTS
- GUESTS LOOKING AT BANANA ARTWORK WITH TITEL “Equal Satire”
- VOX-POP Signe Nørgaard, visitor, Specialized art advisor
“So today we are at the Enter Art Fair, and I have been very positively surprised by several artists, and some works will really remain with me. I even consider buying one, and I will especially remember this banana. And it’s to late for me to buy that one, because it has all ready been sold. I was very curious to see the reception, if there would be a an interaction and understanding of the way it enters into a dialogue. Not just a artistic dialogue, it could have a potential to even change the way we joke with the banana.” - GUESTS LOOKING AT ARTWORK
- SOUNDBITE Thyra Hilden, artist:
“Me and the gallerist have set the price to 10% of the original price of the banana, with the duct tape on the wall very famous piece. And the 10% come from that in the big auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s. And so it’s still only 10% of the turnover that goes to female artists. So it’s also a way to open that discussion of equality. - CLOSE UP OF ART WORK WITH RED DOT¨
- THYRA HILDEN AND CUSTOMER PLACES BANANA ON WALL
- SOUNDBITE Anders Andersen, Chief Executive Officer
“In practice, it means I would be the biggest importer of bananas in Copenhagen, because I will have to renew this piece of art, or some of my employees will renew this piece of art every day. So they will take a banana. They would cut it and they would hang it up on the wall, and we will throw the open in our way if we don’t eat it.” - THYRA HILDEN CUTS BANANA IN HALF
- VOX-POP Anna Bruun Therp, visitor, student:
- “I came across this, art piece on Instagram quite randomly, actually. And then, I wanted to see it in, in real life. And it was here at the art fair in Copenhagen. And then when I came here looking at it, it, it just provoked me in the good way. I mean, for me, as a female, having the shape of a vulva. I mean, it’s crazy, isn’t it? It’s just I love it.”
- SOUNDBITE, Vincent, visitor, art-student:
“Well it is a pleasure been here and seeing al this beautiful art, and actually I was just talking with my friend about this piece here. The interesting thing here to have a penis shaped fruit that represents a vigina, and I thought that was very interesting. - ARTWORK ON WALL
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Link
Dropbox:
Free photo, press release in English by Thyra Hilden ao.
Anthon Maxus (Gallery MAXUS101)