Art Fair Visitor Breaks a Jeff Koons Balloon Dog Sculpture
A woman accidentally knocked over a bright blue dog sculpture at Art Wynwood in Miami, causing the $42,000 artwork to shatter, witnesses said.
The Jeff koon's Balloon dog statue that Shattered into millions of pieces
The balloon dog sculptures made famous by Jeff Koons so closely imitate their twisted latex inspiration that some observers might think they would be better set in a circus than an art gallery. But the fragility of these seemingly buoyant sculptures was made clear on Thursday when visitors at an art fair in Miami saw a bright blue porcelain dog worth $42,000 fall and shatter into pieces. The sculpture, which was about 16 inches tall and 19 inches long, was perched on a transparent pedestal at Art Wynwood
Time Stopped for 15 minutes after the Statue Shattered
During the art fair’s V.I.P. preview night on Thursday, art collectors and other aficionados were milling around when a woman knocked over the Koons sculpture, causing it to shatter into at least 100 pieces. “Before I knew it, they were picking up the Jeff Koons pieces in a dustpan with a broom,” said Stephen Gamson, an art collector and artist who said in an interview on Saturday that he saw the sculpture fall.
Mr. Gamson said that he was about to point the sculpture out to the group he was with when he saw an unidentified woman tap the sculpture with her finger, knocking it from its pedestal in a booth managed by Bel-Air Fine Art, which has galleries in the United States and Europe. At first, Mr. Gamson said, he thought that the fall could be part of a staged performance piece, but then he noticed that the woman was blushing and art fair staff members were rushing over. Suddenly, the shards of porcelain had a bigger audience than the hundreds of intact paintings and sculptures that surrounded them. The Miami Herald reported on the crash on Friday. Wynwood Art could not be immediately reached on Saturday.
Jeffrey Koons with his Balloon Dog Statue At another event Before its last
Suddenly, the shards of porcelain had a bigger audience than the hundreds of intact paintings and sculptures that surrounded them. The Miami Herald reported on the crash on Friday. Wynwood Art could not be immediately reached on Saturday.
The Unnamed Lady will not have to pay for the broken Koons statue, but as of now the shards of the sculpture are now stored in a box, waiting for an insurance company to review them, said Mr. Boero, who had a diplomatic outlook on the incident