Art theft has plagued many of the world's top museums, auction house and galleries as thieves disappear with millions of dollars worth of paintings. But the most recent art heist involves one of the most necessary human inventions-turned-art installation: an 18K gold toilet worth $6 million titled America.
Maurizio Cattelan, the rebellious Italian contemporary artist, had just inaugurated his latest solo exhibition named "Victory Is Not an Option" at Blenheim Palace when the star attraction was forcibly removed.
"At first, when they woke me up this morning with the news,” Cattelan told The New York Times, “I thought it was a prank: Who’s so stupid to steal a toilet? I had forgotten for a second that it was made out of gold.”
The famous gold toilet was designed by Cattelan in 2016 for the Guggenheim Museum in New York. It was a perfectly functioning toilet, installed for the first time in a public restroom at the museum in 2016, and used by over 100,000 people.
The Oxfordshire police have declared that the theft occurred early on Saturday and that the group of people responsible for the incident has not yet been identified, even though two men connected to the theft have been arrested (one has been released on bail).
The golden toilet of Cattelan, made of 18 karat gold and weighing 227 pounds, is estimated at around $6 million, according to the latest statements of Dominic Hare, director of Blenheim Palace.
“America was the 1% for the 99%, and I hope it still is," said Cattelan. "I want to be positive and think the robbery is a kind of Robin Hood-inspired action..."
Although Cattelan has always refused to give an interpretation of his work, it seems that it is inspired by Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917), a urinal that was the basis of his Readymades art. While some believe it had a connection to the Trump presidency, Cattelan claimed this was simply a layer of it and it was made before Trump announced his candidacy. When the White House asked the Guggenheim to loan them Van Gogh's Landscape With Snow, curator Nancy Spector denied the possibility due to the fragile condition of the painting, instead offering Cattelan's gold toilet. The White House gave no further response.
In the last few hours since the theft, it has been suggested that the pilfering of the toilet from Blenheim Palace is a publicity stunt akin to Banksy, led by Cattelan himself. However, the police are taking the theft seriously and are making every effort to locate the offenders and the toilet.
The Cattelan exhibit remains on display at Blenheim Palace through October 27, 2019.
