A Jeff Koons sculpture worth £35,000 has been accidentally smashed during a VIP event at a Miami gallery.
The work, a smaller blue version of the artist’s famous “Balloon Dogs” series, is on display at a preview event at Art Wynwood Gallery.
When it crashed to the ground, many guests initially thought the accident was a piece of performance art or a stunt.
Artist Stephen Gamson, who attended the event, told the local Fox News station that he saw a woman touching the sculpture.
“I saw this woman there and she was banging (the sculpture) and then the thing just fell over and broke into thousands of pieces.”
A bystander filmed a video of gallery staff sweeping up the glass, with “I can’t believe someone knocked it over” in the background.
Benedicte Caluch, an art consultant for Bel-Air Fine Art, which sponsored Koons’ work, told the Miami Herald that the woman did not intentionally break the work and that insurance would cover the damage.
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Koons, an American painter and sculptor known for drawing inspiration from everyday objects such as balloon animals, was not at the event.
Some of his works have sold for as much as £75 million.