Maurizio Cattelan resurrects his stolen gold toilet in a new limited edition print. America (2016) was an 18-carat gold toilet installed in the restrooms of the Guggenheim Museum — fully functional, and open to the public. In 2019, it was stolen from Blenheim Palace in a five-minute heist involving sledgehammers and crowbars. Neither the work nor the gold has ever been recovered. Therapy revisits that object with characteristic Cattelan wit, applying hand-laid 22-carat gold leaf to bring the missing masterpiece back – at least in part. This silkscreen print with hand-applied 22ct gold leaf is produced on Somerset Tub Sized White 310gsm paper with perforation and deckled edges.
Dimensions: 26 x 20 Inches
Medium: Silkscreen print with hand applied 22ct gold leaf, on Somerset Tub Sized White 310gsm paper with perforation and deckled edges.
Provenance: Hand-signed and numbered by the artist. Comes with original publisher issued certificate of authenticity hand-signed by Maurizio Cattelan.
Edition: Limited Edition of 500
Year: 2026
Condition: Excellent
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Maurizio Cattelan, born in Padua, Italy, in 1960, is one of the contemporary art world’s most renowned and elusive conceptual figures. Often labeled the "prankster of the art world," the self-taught artist has spent his decades-long career utilizing subversion, dark humor, and hyperrealistic sculptures to critique societal institutions, politics, and the art market itself. He routinely challenges conventional boundaries—such as sending a stooge to sit in for him at interviews or briefly announcing a fake retirement from art in 2011—forcing viewers to question the intrinsic value, seriousness, and meaning of modern art production.
Cattelan is widely known for several highly provocative and headline-grabbing installations. His notable works include La Nona Ora (The Ninth Hour), a 1999 hyperreal sculpture depicting Pope John Paul II struck down by a meteorite; America, a fully functioning toilet cast in 18-karat solid gold that was famously stolen after being exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum; and Him, a controversial 2001 sculpture that portrays Adolf Hitler as a small, kneeling child in prayer. He achieved further viral ubiquity with Comedian, a conceptual piece consisting of a fresh banana fastened to a wall with silver duct tape, which sparked global debates regarding art world excess and absurdity when it debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019.
The artist's most conceptually extreme works command immense financial sums at public auction. His highest auction record stands at $17.2 million, achieved at Christie’s New York in May 2016 for his contentious Hitler sculpture, Him. His solid gold toilet, America, followed closely with a $12.11 million price tag at Sotheby's New York in November 2025. Rounding out his top market performances, an edition of his infamous duct-taped banana, Comedian, shattered its original estimates to sell for an astonishing $6.2 million at a Sotheby's evening auction in late 2024 to a cryptocurrency
