$42,000 ‘Balloon Dog’ Sculpture Shatters After Being Accidentally Toppled in Miami

A sculpture by artist Jeff Koons, from his “Balloon Dog” series, toppled over and broke into pieces at a Miami art event Thursday.

The sculpture, valued at $42,000, was on display at the Art Winwood event in Miami when a woman tapped it, inadvertently knocking it to the ground, the Miami Herald reported.

“When this thing fell to the ground, it was like how a car accident draws a huge crowd on the highway,” one attendee, Stephen Gampson, is quoted as saying, per the Herald.

Onlookers were stunned in the aftermath of the fall, WFLA reported.

Art News reported the piece was over two decades old, made of blue porcelain, and “roughly 15 inches tall.” 

Gampson speculated as to why the woman touched the piece, saying, “he assumes that the woman tapped the sculpture because she was curious if it was a real balloon. It was not,” per the Herald. 

The famous "balloon dog" sculptures might look like they're made from balloons — but the works are actually fragile, as one art fair attendee found out when she knocked over a $42,000 Jeff Koons piece https://t.co/uf4RWwe7Gs

— CNN (@CNN) February 19, 2023

The outlet noted some attendees wondered if the piece had been broken deliberately as a stunt. However, the mishap is believed to have been purely accidental.

The piece was “a miniature version” of a larger sculpture by Koons. The original stood at 12 feet and was “made of mirror-polished stainless,” per Art News.

“Between 1994 and 2000, Koons replicated the sculpture as a smaller series in a variety of colors, sizes, and materials,” the outlet explained.

The art sales site Artsy noted that the most expensive piece in the series sold for $58.4 million in 2013.

This is not the first time a “Balloon Dog” piece has been damaged. 

The Observer reported in 2016 that one such piece, with a suggested price of $8,000 to $9,000, fell from a display at a Design/Miami event, causing it to shatter upon impact.

Koons’ reaction to the destruction of this piece was muted. 

“It’s a shame when anything like that happens but, you know, it’s just a porcelain plate,” he told Page 6. 

The Herald noted that the piece that was broken on Thursday was insured and the woman will not have to pay for it. 

You can follow Michael Foster on Twitter at @realmfoster.