Famous Jeff Koons ‘Balloon Dog’ sculpture accidentally smashed in Miami
Following a recent mistake in Miami, Florida, one of the famous Balloon Dog sculptures by artist Jeff Koons was accidentally knocked over by an art collector, shattering on the gallery floor.
The two-decade-old work was made out of blue porcelain and was estimated to have been 15 inches tall. Per a Friday report in the Miami Herald, the piece was on display as part of the art fair Art Wynwood. “When this thing fell to the ground, it was like how a car accident draws a huge crowd on the highway,” Stephen Gamson, a Wynwood–based artist and collector, explained to the publication.
At the time of the accident, attendees were puzzled and wondered if it was part of a performance. For Koons, though, he suspects that the woman – later identified as an art collector – might have been overeager. Luckily for the collector, the cost of the piece is covered by insurance. Additionally, Gamson told The Herald he believes the broken pieces are still valuable and offered to buy the remaining shards.
Notably, the smashed sculpture was a miniature version of the famous 12-foot Balloon Dog made of mirror-polished stainless steel that Koons crafted in Los Angeles. Then, between 1994 and 2000, the artist replicated his work in a smaller series, which came in various sizes, colours and materials—one of the giant orange iterations sold for $58.4million in 2013.
The Miami accident wasn’t the first time a Balloon Dog has smashed. Another was broken in 2016. In an interview with Page Six at the time, Koons explained why he wasn’t so bothered by it. “It’s a shame when anything like that happens but, you know, it’s just a porcelain plate,” he said. “We’re really lucky when it’s just objects that get broken, when there’s little accidents like that, because that can be replaced.”
