Meet Jeffrey Koons, a sixty-something American artist whose name has been doing the rounds at British auction house Christie’s. When Koons’ conceptualised the “Rabbit” 33 years ago, little did he know the piece of art would render so much admiration and affection in the 21st century? The 3ft high stainless steel sculpture is expected to be the showstopper on 15th May, and could garner up to $70 million.
The faceless statue currently defines contemporary art, and has been hosted by celebrated museums since its inception in 1986; from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain and the Centre Pompidou in Paris to the Tate Modern in London and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
The “Rabbit” will be part of a collection, that will entail 11 major works, including Paul Cézanne’s Bouilloire et fruits (1888-90), estimated at $40 million, and Andy Warhol’s Little Electric Chair, (1964-65), estimated at $7 million.
Auctioneers will witness the grandiose of the Newhouse’s collection over two nights during Christie’s “20th Century Week” in May, first with an Impressionist and modern evening sale on May 13 and later with a post-war and contemporary evening sale on May 15.
