# Maurizio Cattelan opens first major German exhibition in Berlin

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/my-work-has-always-been-serious-maurizio-cattelan-on-his-6m-banana-his-gold-toilet-and-bringing-hitler-and-a-pope-to-berlin/
- Published: 2026-09-03T04:00:42+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-03T04:12:26+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/sep/03/maurizio-cattelan-art-world-prankster-religion-bananas-hitler
- Topics: Art, Culture, Europe, World

## Key points

- Cattelan's first major German solo show, Night, opens at Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie
- Show skips his famous banana and gold toilet works for weightier themes
- Includes his $17.2m Hitler sculpture Him and other provocative religious/historical pieces

## Summary

Maurizio Cattelan, the Italian artist known for provocative works such as a $6.2m banana taped to a wall and an 18-carat gold toilet, is opening his first major solo exhibition in Germany, titled Night, at Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie. Speaking ahead of the show, he pushed back against his reputation as a mere prankster, insisting his art has "always been serious" even when audiences fixate on the joke. The exhibition matters because it represents a rare institutional attempt to present Cattelan's deeper themes of power, memory and history, rather than the viral stunts for which he is best known.

The show, awarded to Cattelan as winner of this year's Neue Nationalgalerie prize, deliberately omits his most famous pieces, such as the banana (Comedian) and the gold toilet (America), in favour of works exploring collective memory and historical trauma. Highlights include Him, a 2001 sculpture of a kneeling Adolf Hitler that sold for $17.2m in 2016, alongside Dawn, a crucifixion-pose figure, thousands of stuffed pigeons suspended from the ceiling, and La Nona Ora, depicting Pope John Paul II struck by a meteorite. Museum director Klaus Biesenbach described Cattelan as "a very deep thinker who camouflages seriousness with humour", while curator Lisa Botti noted the pigeons also carry a note of optimism.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.