Art Fair Visitor Accidentally Shatters An Iconic Jeff Koons ‘Balloon Dog’ Sculpture

An art fair visitor unintentionally knocked over a Jeff Koons balloon sculpture that was worth more than $40,000 and was crushed to bits.

Koons’ 2021 piece entitled “Balloon Dog (Blue)” was damaged last Thursday when it was on show at Art Wynwood, a contemporary art fair in Miami. Some of the most well-known and pricey sculptures in the world of modern art are by Jeff Koons and include animals.

 A group of 25 galleries that serve as “one of the official representatives for the famous Jeff Koons balloon dogs sculptures,”  Cédric Boero, the district manager of the gallery, informed USA TODAY via email on Monday that the piece was on show at its fair stand.

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“Of course, it is heartbreaking to see such an iconic piece destroyed,” said Boero, who was managing the Art Wynwood booth.

During the fair’s opening evening cocktail hour, an unknown art collector who stopped by the exhibit accidentally kicked the pedestal, resulting in the porcelain sculpture falling and shattering. The sculpture, which is 40 x 48 x 16 cm, was produced in 799 editions altogether.

An edition of the “Balloon Dog (Blue)” was listed on the art marketplace website Artsy for $48,000 as of Monday morning.

Art Fair Visitor Accidentally Smashes Jeff Koons Sculpture

“The collector never intended to break the sculpture; in fact, she never touched it with her hands,” Boero added. “This kind of thing unfortunately happens; that is why the artwork was covered by insurance.”

The fractured pieces will be evaluated by an insurance specialist after receiving numerous offers from interested collectors, according to Boero. A request for comment from USA TODAY was not immediately answered by Koons or Art Wynwood.

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