''America'' is a

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

created in 2016 by the Italian artist

Maurizio Cattelan Maurizio Cattelan (born 21 September 1960) is an Italian artist. Known primarily for his hyperrealistic sculptures and installations, Cattelan's practice also includes curating and publishing. His satirical approach to art has resulted in him bei ...

. An example of satirical participatory art, it is a fully functioning

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position popu ...

made of 18-

karat The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hardne ...

solid

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

. It was stolen in 2019 from

Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace (pronounced ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the only non- royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, ...

, where it was exhibited on loan from the permanent collection of the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

Exhibitions

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Cattelan created the toilet in 2016 for the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was made in a foundry in Florence, cast in several parts that were welded together. Made to look like the museum's other Kohler toilets, it was installed in one of the museum's bathrooms for visitors to use. A special cleaning routine was put in place. The museum stated that the work was paid for with private funds. According to the museum, over 100,000 people waited in line to use ''America'', and a security guard was posted outside the bathroom. According to Cattelan, the work was made of of gold, which in September 2019 was valued at more than four million dollars as bullion. As an artwork, it has been estimated as high as six million. In September 2017, when the museum declined a

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

request to loan its 1888

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

painting ''

Landscape with Snow ''Landscape with Snow'' is a painting by Vincent van Gogh in 1888, believed to be one of the first paintings that he made in Arles. It is one of at least ten 1882 to 1889 oil and watercolor van Gogh paintings of a snowy landscape. The painting ...

'' for then President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's private rooms, curator

Nancy Spector Nancy Spector is an American museum curator who has held positions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City and the Brooklyn Museum. Education Spector graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981. She rece ...

offered to loan ''America'' instead. Any reply by the White House was not reported.

Blenheim Palace

In September 2019, ''America'' was installed at

in the United Kingdom, where it was available for use as part of an exhibition of Cattelan's works. It was placed in a water closet formerly used by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

. On 14 September, the sculpture was stolen. A representative of Blenheim had earlier commented that because ''America'' was plumbed in, and potential thieves would be aware of its use, security was not much of an issue. Because it had been connected to the building's water pipes, the theft caused structural damage and flooding to the

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. Two men were arrested and released in connection with the incident. Cattelan commented: "I always liked heist movies and finally I'm in one of them." Blenheim's insurance company has stated that up to approximately $124,000 can be paid in reward for the return of the toilet. In mid-October, three new arrests were made in connection to the theft. By November, the total number of arrests was six, all of whom have been released without charge. Speculation about the fate of the toilet includes it being melted down, that it has been hidden fairly close to Blenheim and that the theft is a prank by Cattelan. Local imitations of the work have been made, including one that was itself stolen.

Interpretation

The Guggenheim museum linked the meaning of the sculpture to the career of Donald Trump, writing in September 2016 that "the aesthetics of this 'throne' recall nothing so much as the gilded excess of Trump's real-estate ventures and private residences". Cattelan himself declined to give an interpretation of his work, which he conceived of before Trump's presidential candidacy. He said that the connection to Trump is "another layer, but it shouldn’t be the only one." The work has also been described as an interpretation of

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

's 1917 sculpture ''

Fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were ori ...

''. Art critic Jonathan Jones, using the work at Blenheim Palace, opined that it felt "Much like peeing on porcelain. But here, among all the photos of young Winston, it also feels like pissing on British history." He also found the sculpture reminiscent of then prime minister

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...

's hair.

Other gold toilets

In 2002 Winger Lam Sai-wing, a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

businessman, included two gold toilets in what he called a shrine to

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

. He referred to a comment by Lenin about the use of gold after the victory of socialism. In 2019 the Hong Kong jewellery firm Coronet displayed a gold toilet in Shanghai. This toilet had a bulletproof seat containing more than 40,000 small diamonds. Cattelan said that he made three gold toilets.

References

Notes

{{reflist, group=lower-alpha

External links

Maurizio Cattelan: “America”
at guggenheim.org 2016 sculptures Gold sculptures in the United States Lost sculptures Sculptures in New York City Sculptures in the United Kingdom Stolen works of art Toilets Works about Donald Trump Works by Italian people Donald Trump in popular culture Robberies in the United Kingdom