A Jeff Koons sculpture was destroyed in Miami
The destruction of a giant balloon dog sculpture by Jeff Koons, a contemporary art fair exhibition and its restoration at Bel Air Fine Art, where Boero works
The shattered sculpture was on display at the booth of Bel-Air Fine Art, where Boero is a district manager, at an exclusive preview event for Art Wynwood, a contemporary art fair. It’s a balloon dog sculpture by Koons, whose balloon animal sculptures are instantly recognizable across the world. Koons set a record for the most expensive piece sold at an auction by a living artist when his rabbit sculpture sold for $91 million. In 2013, another balloon dog sculpture of Koons sold for $58.4 million.
The district manager for Art Wynwood has told CNN that the gallery is an official representative of the famous Jeff Koons balloon dogs sculptures.
The piece fell after the art collector accidentally kicked the pedestal during the fair’s opening cocktail hour.
The gallery shared photos of the sculpture reduced to scraps of ceramic lying on the floor. The pieces are currently waiting in a box to be evaluated by an insurance expert, according to the gallery. Some collector have offered to buy the broken pieces.
The shattered sculpture, according to Boero, was valued at $24,000 a year ago. The balloon dog sculpture sold out as other versions went up in price.
He has created many versions of the balloon dogs, like one that shattered, and some that are more than ten feet tall.
The art collector’s decision to throw the sculpture over is a broken thing, according to a Los Alamos Art Basel (NPR)
“I was shocked obviously and a bit sad about it,” Cédric Boero, who was managing the booth that displayed the sculpture, told NPR. The lady was very ashamed, and she didn’t know how to apologize.
Boero said the art collector accidentally knocked the sculpture over, which fell to the floor. The sound of the shattered sculpture instantly stopped all conversation in the space, as everyone turned to look.
“It shattered into a thousand pieces,” an artist who attended the event, Stephen Gamson, posted on Instagram, along with videos of the aftermath. “This is one of the most crazy things I have ever seen.”
In his post, Gamson said he unsuccessfully tried to purchase what remained of the sculpture. He later told the Miami Herald that the story added value to the shattered sculpture.
It is broken, so we are not happy about that. “But then, we are a famous group of 35 galleries worldwide, so we have an insurance policy. We will be covered by that.”
