On Thursday night, a woman inadvertently tore up a
$42,000
work by renowned American artist Jeff Koons .
Witnesses say they saw the collector touching a small glass sculpture of the artist before it fell to the ground and shattered.
The episode, which many believed to have been a performance, took place at the Art Wynwood
contemporary art fair
in Miami, United States.
Koons giving a lecture in a museum in Qatar.
Photo: AFP
The brilliant blue piece was part of the famous "
balloon dog
" series and was a miniature replica of Koons' popular 3.5 meter tall balloon dog sculpture made of polished stainless steel, which is on display at Los Angeles California).
It was not a performance
"I saw the woman that was there, and she was touching (the sculpture), and then the thing fell and smashed to pieces," artist
Stephen Gamson
told Fox News .
Another visitor took a video as employees at the show swept up the glass shards.
The American artist is 68 years old.
Photo: AP
"I can't believe someone could make him fall," is heard in the voice of the video.
Benedicte Caluch
, an art consultant for Bel-Air Fine Art, which sponsored Koons' piece, told the Miami Herald that
the woman had no intention of destroying the piece
and that the insurance company would cover the damage.
Koons, who was not present, is an American sculptor and painter who draws his inspiration from everyday objects, including balloon animals.
record man
In May 2019, Koons managed to break an important record: his sculpture “
Rabbit
” (“Rabbit”) became in that year the largest work of a living artist paid for at a Christie's auction when it sold for
91 million dollars
in New York.
"Rabbit", one of the most expensive works in the world.
Photo: EPA, via Shutterstock
The piece was produced in 1986 and only four copies of it exist.
The one auctioned in the United States is the only one that is in private hands, since the other three are in museums in Los Angeles, Chicago and Qatar.
"Rabbit", made of stainless steel, is considered one of the art icons of the 20th century.
Following the 2019 auction, the sculpture took the record from British painter David Hockney, who had sold his painting 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures)' for $90 million.
look too
Jeff Koons, the most expensive artist in the world, tells the secret of his art
They paid more than 67 million dollars for a Pablo Picasso painting at a Sotheby's auction