A German art gallery has been fined nearly USD 20,000 for damaging this bright pink balloon sculpture made by famous American artist Jeff Koons.

The Duesseldorf Regional Court decided on Monday (13th December) that the art gallery has to pay EUR 17,000 (GBP 14,500; USD 19,200) towards repairing the ‘Balloon Venus’ statue by US artist Jeff Koons after it was apparently damaged during transport in 2017.

Jeff Koons, 66, is a famous albeit controversial American artist whose works regularly fetch millions of dollars at auction. In 2019, his stainless steel ‘Rabbit’ sculpture set a record at a Christie’s auction for the most expensive work ever sold by a living artist when it netted USD 9.1 million (GBP 6.9 million) with fees.

An unnamed employee working for the Duesseldorf art gallery picked up the latest sculpture and confirmed that he had taken possession of the work of art, which was in “proper and perfect” condition.

But when the sculpture arrived at the gallery, it is said to have been “slightly scratched and diluted”. Part of the statue’s colour had a “matted” effect and the transportation box appeared to be corroded.

Given that the art gallery was unable to demonstrate that the damage had already been present when the item was picked up, it has now been decided that it is responsible for the repairs that were needed.

The owner had initially tried to sue the art gallery for EUR 50,000 (USD 56,400; GBP 42,500).

The work of art is now believed to be back with its owner. The sculpture is from a series of 650 pieces made in 2013.

It is modelled on the famous, nearly 30,000-year-old ‘Venus von Willendorf’.

An appeal can still be lodged with the Higher Regional Court against the judgment.