A Jeff Koons sculpture owned by Dallas-based collectors Howard and Cindy Rachofsky set an auction record for the artist on Monday when it sold for $25.8 million at Christie's International in London.
The 11-foot-2-inch-high chromium steel Balloon Flower (Magenta) had been expected to fetch about $23.9 million, Christie's said. The sculpture was bought by an unidentified telephone bidder.
Mr. Rachofsky said they sold the piece to expand their collection in the focus areas of American minimalism, Italian postwar art and German painting. The move was "the most difficult decision I've ever made about a work of art," he said last month. The sculpture, bought in 1998, had been in the center of a pond on their Preston Hollow estate.
The work is part of the artist's "Celebration" series of high-tech sculptures inspired by childhood memories. Four other versions of Balloon Flower exist in four different colors, the auction house said.
The artist's previous auction record was $23.6 million for Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold), which was sold at Sotheby's in New York last November. Prices include commissions.
3 months ago
1 comment:
wow - I really like this. Re: where we stayed in the Marais. We were on a little street next to St. Paul's village. I think it was Rue de Charles V. Cute street, great neighborhood - unfortunately the apt wasn't as clean as it should have been. If you went out to the main street and crossed it you were close to Place des Vosges and St. Catherine's square where my favorite bisto, Le Marche, is located.
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