In 2013, Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog sold for $58.4 million at Christie’s, making it the most expensive work by a living artist sold at auction. Koons work, and the artist himself, are iconic America, so it’s no surprise that he would be on the Kardashian radar. What’s also no surprise is that they could get it so wrong.
Jeff Koons and the Kardashians
This is, technically, not news about Jeff Koons, but a story that is too wacky to pass up. It happened on a recent episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Kris Jenner and her daughter, Khloe Kardashian, were sitting in Kris’ office when Khloe asked her mother about a balloon dog bookend that was on the shelf.
Jenner told her daughter that it was a Jeff Koons. ‘Jeff K-O-O-N-S‘ and suggested that Khloe go to, ‘like an art class.’ Khloe said, ‘You can’t art-shame people just for knowing less than you.’
Khloe need not feel art-shamed, since her mother also got it wrong. The bookend is a knockoff that sells for $55. Koons sent the company that sells them a cease-and-desist letter in 2011, saying that the balloon dog bookends violate his copyright. Koons was unsuccessful in bringing a suit against the company that makes and sells the bookends. The Kardashians may not be able to tell the difference…but Jeff Koons fans certainly can.
Jeff Koons Talks About His Success
Jeff Koons was the speaker at this year’s annual David Rockefeller lecture on arts and business. He talked about his ascent from working at the membership desk of the Museum of Modern Art in the 1970s, to his career as a Wall Street commodities trader in the 1980s and, finally, his success as an artist.
Koons told the audience that there was a time when he created art for the pleasure of creating art, and that he sold his work at a loss for a long time. “If you trust in yourself, ” he said, “you’re also in the position to experience the transcendence and becoming of success.”
The David Rockefeller lecture series began in 1966, to encourage business leaders to form alliances with art institutions and artists.
Getting Ready for Art Basel Hong Kong
Jeff Koons ‘gazing ball’ paintings and sculptures will be on display at the 2019 Art Basel Hong Kong exhibit. Koons says that the gazing balls allow each viewer to be a part of the art work. “The viewer,” Koons told an interviewer, “that’s what it’s about, that’s really what art is. The object is something other than art – it’s a transponder, it stimulates, it excites but it doesn’t have potential. The viewer has potential.” Art Basel Hong Kong begins in March, 2019.
Jeff Koons at VFA
Jeff Koons use of materials, like vinyl, steel, porcelain, titanium and aluminum to create flawless surfaces that look simple, but belie the craftsmanship the goes into each of his works. At Vertu Fine Art, we have Jeff Koons signature balloon porcelain sculptures for sale in our gallery. Please contact us if you would like more information about Balloon Dog, Split Rocker or any of the other fine works available at VFA.
Laura Pitcher. Art Critics on ‘Art Shaming’: Yes, It Exists and Khloe Kardashian Kind of Deserved It. The Observer. August 15, 2018.
Gabriella Angeleti. Jeff Koons on transcendence. The Art Newspaper. June 6, 2018.
Fionnuala McHugh. From porn-star wife’s nether regions to Balloon Dogs: Hong Kong-bound Jeff Koons talks ‘plastic art’, selfies and Art Basel. Post Magazine. March 30, 2018.