Visitor accidentally knocks over, shatters $42,000 Jeff Koons sculpture at art exhibit
MIAMI (Gray News) – A sculpture worth $42,000 from renowned artist Jeff Koons was accidentally knocked over and shattered to pieces Thursday at an art exhibit in Miami.
Bel-Air Fine Art was displaying the piece at Art Wynwood, a contemporary art fair in Miami.
A guest captured video of a stunned crowd moments after the sculpture was shattered. The video was posted to Instagram, along with the caption, in part: “This woman knocked it over. I actually witnessed the whole thing. It shattered into a thousand pieces. One of the most crazy things I’ve ever seen.”
The art gallery confirmed in a statement to CNN that an unnamed art collector visiting the booth accidentally kicked the pedestal holding the sculpture during the fair’s opening cocktail hour Thursday evening, causing the sculpture to fall to the ground.
The 2021 piece titled “Balloon Dog (Blue)” was valued at about $42,000. It was made of porcelain and measured 40 x 48 x 16 cm – a little more than 1 foot tall.
According to the art gallery, the piece was one of 799 made.
The art gallery described Koons as “without question one of the most important living artists,” known for his sculptures that resemble balloon animals.
Koons was born in 1955 in York, Pennsylvania and emerged as a prominent artist in the 1980s. His works have fetched astronomical sums at auction, including his “Rabbit” sculpture that sold for $91 million in 2019 and his “Balloon Dog (Orange)” sculpture that sold for $58.4 million.
As for the shattered “Balloon Dog (Blue)” sculpture, the gallery said the broken pieces were placed in a box, waiting to be evaluated by an insurance expert. Bel-Air Fine Arts said that some art collectors have offered to purchase the broken pieces.
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