Jeff Koons

" Please don't touch the artwork".

Now And Then , We Are reminded as to why these signs are still needed in galleries around The World .

Art lovers in Miami looked on in horror on Thursday night, when a collector accidentally knocked a $42,000 (£34,870) sculpture by US pop artist Jeff Koons to the ground.

She had tapped it with her finger, witnesses at The Event said.

The Statue - One of Koons' iconic Dog Balloons - Smashed into tiny shards, and had to be swept into dustpans by gallery staff.

The Accident happened during the exclusive VIP-only Opening Night of Art Wynwood, a Contemporary Art fair held annually in Miami, Florida.

Local artist Stephen Gamson told the Miami Herald he was admiring The Sculpture , when an " older woman" tapped it, knocking it off its pedestal.

At first he wondered if it was part of a performance piece (Banksy, Anyone ? ) But quickly realised it had been an accident.

" When this thing fell to the ground, it was like how a car accident draws a huge crowd on the highway, " Mr Gamson told The Paper .

Luckily for The Woman , the piece is covered by insurance, Bénédicte Caluch, an art advisor with Bel-Air Fine Art galleries which represents The Sculpture , said.

" It was an event! " Ms Caluch told the Miami Herald . " Everybody came to see What Happened . "

She added that The Woman who caused the damage, who has remained unnamed, was an art collector.

" Life just stopped for 15 Minutes with everyone around, " Cédric Boero, who also works for Bel-Air Fine Art galleries, told the New York Times.

He added that a colleague spoke to The Woman , Who Said she was " very very sorry" and " just wanted to disappear".

The Sculpture was part of a limited edition which has now shrunk from 799 to 798.

" That's a good thing for The Collectors , " Mr Boero told The Times , laughing.

Despite being shattered into thousands of pieces, there is still interest in buying the destroyed sculpture.

Mr Gamson offered to buy it there And Then because, as He Said , " it has a really cool story".

Jeff Koons , 68, has not made any comment on The Incident .

His range of Balloon Dog sculptures are among The Most iconic works of Contemporary Art , and have sold for tens of millions of dollars.

Some are enormous - as high as 10ft (3m) - But this ill fated One was just a puppy, at 16 inches (40cm) tall.

They have graced galleries around The World , and were further iconised by Jay-Z in 2017 when the rapper worked directly with Koons to create a 40-foot inflatable Balloon Dog for a stage prop.

In 2019 Koons made history when his Rabbit sculpture sold at auction for $91. 1m (£71m) -

Source of news: bbc.com