The first collectors of Jeff Koons' work must be very pleased with their acquisitions. For example, the highest bidder for Two ball 50/50 tank that sold on 7 May 1992 at Sotheby´s NY acquired the installation for 65,000 dollars. This work, from the Equilibrium series, contains two basket balls half submerged in an aquarium and was conceived with the assistance of Dr. Richard Feynman, a Nobel prize laureate for Physics. In 2000, the work sold for 220,000 dollars at Phillips NY, and in 2005 a larger scale version with three basket balls fetched nearly double that price (420,000 dollars, Christie%u2019s NY).
The large number of multiples that have been produced in his name explains the fact that 50% of the works signed by Koons can be acquired for less than %u20AC2,500. But the prices are undoubtedly rising. The Ballon Dog in metalicised porcelain, produced by Jeff Koons in a series of 2,300, changed hands in 2002 for between 1,200 and 1,800 euros. Today one would expect to pay between 2,000 and 4,000 euros. His Puppies, small white porcelain vases, 45cm high, produced in 3,000 examples, sell in the same price range. However, in December 2002 one of his Puppies failed to find a buyer at Cornette de Saint-Cyr in Paris carrying a low estimate of %u20AC800.
The Palace of Versailles will soon (September 10) be staging a 3-month exhibition of the works of the American "master of kitsch", Jeff Koons. Some works will even be installed in the very heart if the royal apartments. Aside from the aesthetic clash and the associated controversy, the exhibition represents an opportunity for France to host the work of the highest paid living contemporary artist in the world today. Among the works to be exposed, Koons' monumental Balloon Dog -to be placed opposite the Repas de Véronèse- and Hanging Heart -to be hung above the Queen's staircase- remind us of the two works presented by François Pinault, the artist's principal collector, at his Venetian Palazzo Grassi. One naturally assumes that Mr Pinault appreciates the reference, particularly at a time when Jeff KOONS is the number 1 in the market%u2026
Jeff Koons is currently the most sought after artist born after 1945. On 30 June 2008, his Ballon Flower (Magenta), a work from the Howard and Cindy Rachofsky collection, sold for GBP 11.5m (USD 23m). The Rachovskys apparently bought the work for USD 1,1m in 2001. Koons had already set a new record in November 2007 when his Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold) fetched USD 21m at Sotheby%u2019s. A version of this work was one of the centrepieces of Mr Pinault's collection when it opened to the public at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice in 2006! The 3-metre high red heart sold in November 2007 was so fresh off the Koons production line that its owner, Adam Lindemann had it sent straight from the warehouse without ever having exposed it. These sales, together with the sale of three other major pieces from the Celebration series (started in in 1994), have put Jeff Koons at the top of the annual auction revenue ranking with a total of %u20AC81,3m (vs %u20AC46.2m for Jean Michel Basquiat, his predecessor at the top of the 2006/2007 list).
The first collectors of Jeff Koons' work must be very pleased with their acquisitions. For example, the highest bidder for Two ball 50/50 tank that sold on 7 May 1992 at Sotheby´s NY acquired the installation for 65,000 dollars. This work, from the Equilibrium series, contains two basket balls half submerged in an aquarium and was conceived with the assistance of Dr. Richard Feynman, a Nobel prize laureate for Physics. In 2000, the work sold for 220,000 dollars at Phillips NY, and in 2005 a larger scale version with three basket balls fetched nearly double that price (420,000 dollars, Christie%u2019s NY).
The large number of multiples that have been produced in his name explains the fact that 50% of the works signed by Koons can be acquired for less than %u20AC2,500. But the prices are undoubtedly rising. The Ballon Dog in metalicised porcelain, produced by Jeff Koons in a series of 2,300, changed hands in 2002 for between 1,200 and 1,800 euros. Today one would expect to pay between 2,000 and 4,000 euros. His Puppies, small white porcelain vases, 45cm high, produced in 3,000 examples, sell in the same price range. However, in December 2002 one of his Puppies failed to find a buyer at Cornette de Saint-Cyr in Paris carrying a low estimate of %u20AC800.
The Palace of Versailles will soon (September 10) be staging a 3-month exhibition of the works of the American "master of kitsch", Jeff Koons. Some works will even be installed in the very heart if the royal apartments. Aside from the aesthetic clash and the associated controversy, the exhibition represents an opportunity for France to host the work of the highest paid living contemporary artist in the world today. Among the works to be exposed, Koons' monumental Balloon Dog -to be placed opposite the Repas de Véronèse- and Hanging Heart -to be hung above the Queen's staircase- remind us of the two works presented by François Pinault, the artist's principal collector, at his Venetian Palazzo Grassi. One naturally assumes that Mr Pinault appreciates the reference, particularly at a time when Jeff KOONS is the number 1 in the market%u2026
Jeff Koons is currently the most sought after artist born after 1945. On 30 June 2008, his Ballon Flower (Magenta), a work from the Howard and Cindy Rachofsky collection, sold for GBP 11.5m (USD 23m). The Rachovskys apparently bought the work for USD 1,1m in 2001. Koons had already set a new record in November 2007 when his Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold) fetched USD 21m at Sotheby%u2019s. A version of this work was one of the centrepieces of Mr Pinault's collection when it opened to the public at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice in 2006! The 3-metre high red heart sold in November 2007 was so fresh off the Koons production line that its owner, Adam Lindemann had it sent straight from the warehouse without ever having exposed it. These sales, together with the sale of three other major pieces from the Celebration series (started in in 1994), have put Jeff Koons at the top of the annual auction revenue ranking with a total of %u20AC81,3m (vs %u20AC46.2m for Jean Michel Basquiat, his predecessor at the top of the 2006/2007 list).
The first collectors of Jeff Koons' work must be very pleased with their acquisitions. For example, the highest bidder for Two ball 50/50 tank that sold on 7 May 1992 at Sotheby´s NY acquired the installation for 65,000 dollars. This work, from the Equilibrium series, contains two basket balls half submerged in an aquarium and was conceived with the assistance of Dr. Richard Feynman, a Nobel prize laureate for Physics. In 2000, the work sold for 220,000 dollars at Phillips NY, and in 2005 a larger scale version with three basket balls fetched nearly double that price (420,000 dollars, Christie%u2019s NY).
The large number of multiples that have been produced in his name explains the fact that 50% of the works signed by Koons can be acquired for less than %u20AC2,500. But the prices are undoubtedly rising. The Ballon Dog in metalicised porcelain, produced by Jeff Koons in a series of 2,300, changed hands in 2002 for between 1,200 and 1,800 euros. Today one would expect to pay between 2,000 and 4,000 euros. His Puppies, small white porcelain vases, 45cm high, produced in 3,000 examples, sell in the same price range. However, in December 2002 one of his Puppies failed to find a buyer at Cornette de Saint-Cyr in Paris carrying a low estimate of %u20AC800.
The Palace of Versailles will soon (September 10) be staging a 3-month exhibition of the works of the American "master of kitsch", Jeff Koons. Some works will even be installed in the very heart if the royal apartments. Aside from the aesthetic clash and the associated controversy, the exhibition represents an opportunity for France to host the work of the highest paid living contemporary artist in the world today. Among the works to be exposed, Koons' monumental Balloon Dog -to be placed opposite the Repas de Véronèse- and Hanging Heart -to be hung above the Queen's staircase- remind us of the two works presented by François Pinault, the artist's principal collector, at his Venetian Palazzo Grassi. One naturally assumes that Mr Pinault appreciates the reference, particularly at a time when Jeff KOONS is the number 1 in the market%u2026
Jeff Koons is currently the most sought after artist born after 1945. On 30 June 2008, his Ballon Flower (Magenta), a work from the Howard and Cindy Rachofsky collection, sold for GBP 11.5m (USD 23m). The Rachovskys apparently bought the work for USD 1,1m in 2001. Koons had already set a new record in November 2007 when his Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold) fetched USD 21m at Sotheby%u2019s. A version of this work was one of the centrepieces of Mr Pinault's collection when it opened to the public at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice in 2006! The 3-metre high red heart sold in November 2007 was so fresh off the Koons production line that its owner, Adam Lindemann had it sent straight from the warehouse without ever having exposed it. These sales, together with the sale of three other major pieces from the Celebration series (started in in 1994), have put Jeff Koons at the top of the annual auction revenue ranking with a total of %u20AC81,3m (vs %u20AC46.2m for Jean Michel Basquiat, his predecessor at the top of the 2006/2007 list).
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