A $42,000 “Balloon Dog” sculpture came crashing down when an admiring art collector accidentally annihilated the piece. A limited edition $42,000 blue porcelain balloon dog sculpture by American artist Jeff Koons was displayed at the Bel-Air Fine Art booth during the Art Wynwood contemporary art fair in Miami. The sculpture comprised a shiny, electric blue, 12-foot-tall Balloon Dog and was the most popular booth in the whole fair, even before it crashed and attracted attention.
Wynwood-based artist and art collector Stephen Gamson was present when the accident took place and filmed the arty aftermath. ‘When this thing fell to the ground, it was like how a car accident draws a huge crowd on the highway,’ Gamson said. He added,’ It’s the most popular booth in the whole fair.’ The collector, a Koons fan, assumed the woman tapped the sculpture to confirm if the realistic sculpture was really a balloon. She did find the truth behind it, albeit catastrophically.
Luckily the expensive $42,000 balloon dog sculpture was insured per Bénédicte Caluch, an art advisor with Bel-Air Fine Art. The art collector may have erred, but not all are as innocent and can wreak havoc sometimes. Sometime last year, an American tourist was arrested at the Chiaramonti for shattering two 2,000-year-old Roman sculptures after being denied permission to see Pope Francis.
