Clumsy art fan accidentally destroys 'iconic' $42k Jeff Koons 'Balloon Dog' sculpture
A visitor to a Miami art fair had an expensive trip when they accidently knocked over a $42,000 sculpture.
The unlucky art fan had unintentially kicked a podium, which had one of Jeff Koons' animal art works sat on top of it, the gallery responsible for the artwork told CNN.
While Koons' famous statues may look like balloons, the art fair visitors soon discovered they are made from delicate porcelain. The piece - 'Balloon Dog (Blue)' - was left shattered on the ground.
The artwork, was being displayed by Bel-Air Fine Art gallery, which is an official representative of Jeff Koons, at Art Wynwood, a contemporary art fair in Miami.
In a statement shared with CNN over email, the gallery's district manager, Cédric Boero said: "Of course it is heartbreaking to see such an iconic piece destroyed."
He said the piece fell after an unnamed art collector visiting the booth unintentionally kicked the pedestal during the fair's opening cocktail hour, CNN reports.
"The collector never intended to break the sculpture, in fact she never touched it with her hands," he said to CNN.
"It was the opening cocktail, lots of people were on our booth, she gave unintentionally a little kick in the pedestal, which was enough to cause the sculpture to fall down."
"This kind of thing unfortunately happens, that is why the artwork was covered by insurance," he said.
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The gallery shared photos of the sculpture reduced to scraps of porcelain lying on the floor.
Videos from the scene, shared on social media, show the expensive pieces were swept up with a broom.
They are currently waiting in a box to be evaluated by an insurance expert, according to the gallery.
Bel-Air Fine Arts added that some collectors have offered to purchase the broken pieces.
The porcelain sculpture, measuring 40 x 48 x 16 cm, was valued at around $42,000, according to an email sent to CNN from Bel-Air Fine Art.
A total of 799 editions of the sculpture were made, this included the now broken one.
Koons and Art Wynwood did not immediately reply to CNN's request for comment.
In the contemporary art world, Koons' balloon animal figures are some of the most renowned and expensive items collectors can buy.
His pieces have sold for enormous sums at auction including "Rabbit" (1986) which sold for $91 million at Christie's New York in 2019, and "Balloon Dog (Orange)" (1994-2000) sold for $58.4 million six years earlier.
He has created hundreds of renditions of the balloon dogs, some of them towering over ten feet tall, and some of them just over a foot tall.