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A small glass sculpture by renowned artist Jeff Koons was unintentionally knocked over and broken to pieces by a collector who was attending a contemporary art show.
The gleaming blue sculpture, which is a part of Koons’ well-known “balloon dog” collection, was appraised at $42,000.
Some collectors believed the incident to be performance art or a planned stunt because it happened during a VIP preview at Art Wynwood in Miami.
On an acrylic base bearing Koons’ last name, the artwork stood by itself.
The sculpture fell over and broke into thousands of pieces after I saw this lady there and heard her tapping on it, said artist Stephen Gamson to a Fox News affiliate in Miami.
According to Gamson, who spoke to the media, the woman may have touched the artwork to check to see if it was a genuine balloon.
As museum staff members swept up the glass fragments, a passerby recorded the action on camera.
On the footage, a voice is heard saying, “I can’t believe someone would knock that over.”
The lady did not intend to break the Koons piece, according to Benedicte Caluch, an art advisor with Bel-Air Fine Art, which sponsored the artwork, who also told the Miami Herald that insurance would pay for the damage.
American painter and sculptor Koons, who wasn’t present, finds inspiration in commonplace items like balloon creatures. Even though they have sold at auction for as much as $91 million, his works question ideas about what constitutes fine art.
His statues of balloon dogs range in height from under a foot (about 30 centimeters) to over ten feet (three meters), and they are painted in vibrant hues.
