Balloon Dog (Blue) is a sculpture by Jeff Koons. It is the only original freestanding Balloon Dog as all others are mounted on a plate. Part of Jeff Koons’ Celebration series, an ongoing series of paintings and sculptures that recall the rituals, icons and images surrounding birthdays, holidays and other celebrations, Balloon Dog (Blue) is perhaps the most impressive work. With the recognisable shape of a balloon morphing into the form of a dog, Koons has frozen a moment in time, exaggerating both scale and material. Balloon Dog (Blue) is literal and abstract. Standing near it, one sees one’s own distorted reflection bending around the gentle, perky curves. The work is a collection of shapes, each segment in itself not looking like part of a dog’s anatomy – indeed, Koons often references human sexual anatomy – but taken as a whole, Balloon Dog (Blue) is an aloof sentinel wrapped in nostalgia.

Jeff Koons himself has called Balloon Dog Blue the “Trojan horse” of the Celebration series. The only authentic limited edition depicting the freestanding Balloon Dog without a plate is finally here. This edition is a reproduction of the larger sculpture of the Balloon Dog from the Celebration series as it was conceived in five unique colours (starting with blue, magenta, yellow, orange, red) from 1994 until its completion in 2000. The Balloon Dog has chameleon-like qualities; its reflective surface is able to physically change with its surroundings and its multi-layered meanings make it conceptually shift in the mind of each viewer. This limited art edition comes from an edition of 799 pieces and is made from Limoges porcelain and manufactured in Limoges, France. The freestanding limited edition Balloon Dog (blue) requires 60 people to make each piece and takes a whole month to complete. Its production combines traditional porcelain decoration techniques with new technologies not normally applied to ceramics. This combination makes it possible to achieve metallic and reflective properties. Each piece is signed on the inside of the right front leg. The signature is applied to the porcelain and fired in the kiln.

The Ketterer auction house in Munich held a charity auction on 10.12.2021, at which the American artist’s edition was sold for 62,500 euros (72,500 US dollars). The proceeds will go entirely to the Vita Assistenzhunde e.V. training programme and the training of the Golden Retriever puppy Chap.

Between Art and Kitsch / Jeff Koons

Born in Philadelphia in 1955, Koons wanted one thing above all: to become rich and famous. After studying art, he worked at the Museum of Modern Art and as a broker in New York for a few years starting in 1976, so that he could finance his works himself. Soon he created the first of his legendary Balloon Animals, and the shooting star of Neo-Pop Art was on the rise. The colorful 1980s came just at the right time for Koons, who cites Marcel Duchamps, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, and of course Andy Warhol as the most important artists who inspired him. In his works, Jeff Koons processes everyday objects that often have a strong connection to childhood. He imitates them, alienates them, exaggerates them, sexualizes them, or groups them with advertisements, photographs, or comics to create large-scale collages. Since the auction of the stainless steel sculpture Rabbit in 2019, Jeff Koons is once more the most expensive living artist.