Jeff Koons' Precious 'Gazing Ball' Artwork Destroyed by Visitor
The mishap occurred inside a 15th-century Amsterdam church.
This past Sunday, a nameless individual walked into the historic Nieuwe Kerk church in Amsterdam to check out Jeff Koons‘ Gazing Ball (Perugino Madonna and Child with Four Saints) artwork. Overwhelmed with curiosity, the aforementioned churchgoer decided to touch the blue glass orb affixed to the painting. After contact, the orb immediately fell and shattered to pieces as confirmed by the church’s spokesperson, Martijn van Schieveen via HiFructose.
Koons’ handblown Gazing Ball was the highlight of the piece with the artist having encouraged visitors to stare at their reflection from the orb, but touching the artwork was totally out of bounds. Moreover, the work was on display at the 15th-century church as part of a three-month-long exhibition with the accident having occurred on the last day of the show on April 8.
View the artwork intact in the slideshow above and then check out the destroyed Gazing Ball in the photo below. Details regarding the price of the piece haven’t been announced, but surely it must be worth thousands or even millions considering a Gazing Ball print costs around $60,000 USD.
In other interesting art news, Russell Crowe recently raked in $2.8 million USD at his infamous divorce auction with Sotheby’s Australia.
Nieuwe Kerk
Gravenstraat 17 NL
Amsterdam, Netherlands 1012
