Christie’s sold last week Jeff Koon’s Ballon Flower (Magenta) for $25,752,051, a world record price for the artist at auction.

This work is one of five unique versions: Magenta, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Red and was executed between 1995 and 1999.

Balloon Flower (Magenta) 1995-2000 is from a top Dallas art collector who paid less than £600,000 for it seven years ago. It was the first time a work of this scale and quality by Koons were publicly offered in London.

It’s the most difficult decision I’ve ever made about a work of art,” says Mr. Rachofsky to the Dallas Morning News, who purchased it in 1998 and installed it in the center of the pond on the north end of his Preston Hollow estate.

“We came to terms with the idea that to be able to effectively develop the collection in our areas of primary interest – American minimalism, Italian postwar art and German painting – we would let this piece go. It presents opportunities to advance the collection in ways we would not otherwise have been able to achieve.”

The work, with its mirrored surface and monumental scale, is a celebrated icon within Koons’ oeuvre and took him nearly ten years to complete.

The motifs for the series of large-format sculptures and paintings called “Celebration” seem, like “Balloon Flowers”, to have been taken from children’s books or fairy-tales, or even from a gift catalogue.

It is said to pay homage to life’s celebratory and cyclical events, like birthdays, nature – through the flower-like form – and holidays. Via artknowledgenews