A woman accidentally breaks a Jeff Koons sculpture worth P2.3M
There's a reason why art galleries and museums post warnings about not touching the artworks because some pieces are very fragile.
A woman in Florida learned this the hard way after she accidentally broke a sculpture of world-renowned artist Jeff Koons that is valued at $42,000 or P2,317,329 based on current exchange rates. This happened at contemporary art fair Art Wynwood in Miami during a VIP viewing event.
The said art piece was a small blue “Balloon Dog” sculpture that was sitting on a pedestal when the woman allegedly touched it. The sculpture then fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
Jeff Koons is known for his sculptures that look like foil balloons. Despite their appearance, these pieces are not made of foil but are actually made of different materials, in this case the piece was made of porcelain.
Art collector Stephen Gamson posted the whole incident on his Instagram account. He uploaded an old photo of himself with Koons, a photo of the sculpture, and two videos showing the broken art piece on the floor.
“I was at the VIP art opening of Art Wynwood as I was looking [at] the art, I pointed to a Jeff Koons balloon dog sculpture. This woman knocked it over. I actually witnessed the whole thing. It shattered into a thousand pieces. One of the most crazy things I've ever seen,” he captioned his post.
The art collector even offered to buy the broken sculpture.
The Koons piece was on display at the booth of Bel-Air Fine Art and the Miami Herald reported that according to the gallery, the piece was insured and the woman does not have to pay for it.
This is not the first time that visitors have broken precious art pieces. In 2018, a boy in Kansas in the US broke a sculpture worth $132,000. In 2019, two boys in Shanghai, China played with a wall art piece eventually breaking it. This happened while their adult companions were filming them playing with the said artwork.
Let this be a lesson to all--do not touch the artwork.
MEANWHILE, CHECK OUT THE ARTWORKS OF YOUR FAVORITE CELEBS IN THE GALLERY BELOW.
