$42,000 Balloon Dog Sculpture Reveals After Museum Walked Within Reach of Clumsy Woman

A delicate sculpture by artist Jeff Koons that was supposed to look like a blue balloon dog is now in multiple pieces after being thrown off its pedestal and immediately smashed.

The incident took place at Art Wynwood in Miami during a VIP reception on February 16th. According to The New York Times.

Koons sculpts the pieces in all sizes to look like dogs made from balloons. According to CNN, the piece on display was called “Balloon Dog (Blue)” and was valued at approximately $42,000.

Here’s another reminder of never. touch. . art.

— Complex (@Complex) February 19, 2023

According to the Times, it was about 16 inches high and 19 inches long and sat on a large, transparent rectangle.

Until he was no more.

“Before I knew it, they were collecting parts of Jeff Koons in a dustpan with a broom,” art collector Stephen Gamson told the Times.

The aftermath of the accident was “like a car crash on a highway where people start looking and then there’s traffic and then it becomes such a big event,” Gamson said.

ICYMI: A visitor to a gallery in Miami accidentally knocked over Jeff Koons’ famous balloon dog sculpture, shattering it into pieces. pic.twitter.com/P8Vcdd5Hb5

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 26, 2023

According to CNN, in an emailed statement, the gallery’s regional manager, Cédric Boero, said the destruction of the piece was an accident.

“It is certainly heartbreaking to see such an iconic piece destroyed,” Boero wrote, noting that the collector had kicked the pedestal on which the sculpture stood.

“The collector never intended to break the sculpture, in fact she never touched it with her hands.”

Breaking news: A woman accidentally knocked over a Jeff Koons balloon dog sculpture at an art fair in Miami, causing the $42,000 piece of art to shatter, witnesses say.

— New York Times (@nytimes) February 18, 2023

“It was an opening cocktail, there were a lot of people in our booth, she inadvertently lightly kicked the pedestal, which was enough to make the sculpture fall,” wrote Boero.

Boero told the Times that the woman spoke to one of the gallery’s employees.

“She said, ‘I’m really, really sorry,’ and just wanted to disappear,” he said.

He also noted that the damage means that instead of the 799 existing versions of the sculpture, only 798 now exist, effectively increasing the value of the sculptures that remain available to collectors, according to the Times.

The pieces were placed in a box for inspection by the insurance company, according to the Times.

According to the Miami Herald, Gamson said he wanted to buy the items.

“I find value in it even when it’s broken. For me, this is history. It makes the art even more interesting,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The Western Journal.

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