The artist behind the duct-taped banana, which auctioned for over $6 million USD final November, Maurizio Cattelan, continues to make headlines within the international artwork sector. This time, the information facilities round his gold rest room on the Blenheim Palace in England which was stolen by 4 male suspects. The perpetrators solely took 5 minutes to haul it out of the establishment and it was by no means recovered, as per ARTnews.
Entitled “America” (2016), the stolen work is a fully-functioning rest room manufactured from 18-karat, 103 kilogram gold that was located within the guides’ restroom. Although, guests have been allowed to view the work by way of reserving time slots to make use of the bathroom. The work was initially a part of an exhibition alongside different conceptual objects by Cattelan again in 2019 on the 18th-century fort in Oxfordshire, England. Previous to this present, it was on view at New York’s Guggenheim Museum since September 2016. It was modeled after a standard Kohler rest room that was made by a foundry within the artist’s native Florence, Italy.
“The housebreaking was rigorously deliberate and swiftly carried out. The lads, 5 of them it seems, drove via locked wood gates into the grounds of Blenheim Palace shortly earlier than 5am in two stolen autos, an Isuzu truck and a VW Golf. All in all they spent simply 5 minutes within the constructing. Clearly such an audacious raid wouldn’t have been attainable with out numerous preparation,” Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC stated in a press release.
The alleged mastermind of the theft is a person named Michael Jones who’s at present going through trial at Oxford Crown Court docket. Experiences reveal that he paid a go to to the palace twice earlier than spearheading the theft. He pleaded not responsible after being charged with one rely of housebreaking. Jones’ troupe included three different male people, Fred Doe and Bora Guck who have been charged with one rely of conspiracy to switch felony property in addition to James Sheen, a building employee who employed Jones for a constructing venture. All suspects denied the costs aside from Sheen who pleaded responsible for participating within the scheme. The bathroom was allegedly damaged up and offered as elements to a jeweler in London’s Hatton Backyard as per The Artwork Newspaper.
Surprisingly, this isn’t the primary time that somebody stole Cattelan’s 18-karat gold rest room. An earlier model of “America” was stolen again in 2019 on the Blenheim Palace.
