The provocative artwork "Comedian" has become one of the most well-known artworks in recent years due to its simplicity. A banana silver-taped to a white wall.
When a museum visitor last Saturday took a bite of the artwork, which was purchased for 6.2 million dollars last year, security guards could intervene quickly and calmly, according to the museum which commented on the incident on Friday.
The Italian artist behind the work, Maurizio Cattelan, said that he was disappointed that the person did not eat the peel and tape as well.
The work is said to have been reinstalled in just a few minutes.
"Since the fruit is perishable, it is replaced regularly according to the artist's instructions", reads a statement from the Pompidou-Metz museum.
The artwork has sparked strong reactions since it was introduced at the Art Basel show in Miami Beach in 2019. Maurizio Cattelan has explained his work as a commentary on the art market, which he has previously criticized for being speculative and not helpful to artists.
It was also at the premiere in 2019 that the artwork was eaten for the first time. The hungry perpetrator then was performance artist David Datuna. Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun bought "Comedian" last year for 6.2 million dollars, equivalent to 60 million kronor, and ate it up in front of filming cameras.
