Witnesses at the annual Art Wynwood event on Thursday said afemale art collector tapped a blue version of Koons' iconic “Balloon Dog” with her finger, causing it to topple over and break, the BBC reported.
Per CNN’s account, a rep for the art gallery hosting the piece said the womangave an “unintentional kick to the pedestal"where the sculpture was placed.
PEOPLE reached out to the Bel-Air Fine Art galleries and Jeff Koons for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Local artist and collector Stephen Gamsontold theMiami Heraldhe wondered at first if breaking the shiny blue dog, which looks like it was fashioned out of a balloon, was part of the “performance,” but then realized it was truly an accident.
Artist Stephen Gamson | @GamsonArt
Bénédicte Caluch, an art advisor withBel-Air Fine Artgalleries, said that the fiasco at the annual fair was truly “an event"as guests gathered to watch the tiny blue shards get swept up into a dustpan.
“Everybody came to see what happened,“Caluch told theHerald.
Cédric Boero, who also works for the galleries, toldThe New York Times: “Life just stopped for 15 minuteswith everyone around.” The woman responsible for destroying the piece, he added, was “very very sorry” and “just wanted to disappear.”
Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty
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Boero, the gallery’s district manager who was managing the Art Wynwood booth, also told CNN: “Of course, it is heartbreaking to see such an iconic piece destroyed.”
The sculpture, according to the Bel-Air Fine Art site, measured 40 x 48 x 16 centimeters and was made of porcelain. There are799 editions of the sculpture, which range in size.
Koons' balloon figures are some of the most expensive contemporary art pieces.
source: people.com
