Working with seductive commercial materials (such as the high-chromium stainless steel of his unique large-scale Balloon Dogs, or his vinyl inflatables), Koons turns banal objects into icons of high art. Famous for creating large Balloon Dogs in Blue, Magenta, Red, Orange, and Yellow, Koons produces sculpture that seems to defy gravity and appear weightless. His “Orange Balloon Dog” sold at Christie’s in November 2013 for a record high of $58.4 million, becoming the most expensive work of art by a living artist ever sold at auction.
In 1995, Balloon Dog (Red) became the first of Jeff Koons’ now-iconic Balloon Dogs to be produced in a small-scale edition, making the work commercially accessible in a way his monumental sculptures could not be. Since then, Koons’ Balloon Dogs have become fixtures of popular culture—tongue-in-cheek emblems of artistic fame, playfulness, and extraordinary market success.
Koons originally conceived the large-scale Balloon Dogs as part of his Celebration series, which drew inspiration from quintessential American childhood imagery. Borrowing the form of a birthday party clown’s balloon animal, Koons sought to capture rare moments of innocence and joy while elevating them into the realm of high art.
Balloon Dog (Red) was first editioned in 1995, followed by blue versions in 2002. Smaller editions in yellow and magenta appeared later, in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The edition consists of 2,300 works plus 50 artist’s proofs. As one of the earliest colorways, Balloon Dog (Red) remains among the most desirable of Koons’ accessible works.