Jeff Koons' young children struggle with the idea the giant heart is no longer in the family. They saw it last at the Beyeler Foundation museum in Switzerland. They loved it then and still do.
Koons made five giant hanging hearts, part of his larger Celebrations series of animals, diamonds and eggs blown up to massive scale. Each of the five hanging hearts has a color variation, and four of them went to collectors or museums. One of them caused a stir when it sold at Sotheby's auction house for $23 million in 2007. That was then a record price for a work made by a still-living artist.
Another variation, "Hanging Heart (Gold/Magenta)," he kept -- until he sold it to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, where it debuted in February. He opted for the sale to continue what he believes Crystal Bridges has contributed to the national art conversation.
"The collection of Crystal Bridges is special. ... It's wonderful to have this dialogue. It's not on the normal urban path, but it's creating this interest," he says.
He will be featured in an actual conversation this evening, when he is the featured speaker at the museum. His 7 p.m. discussion is open to the public, and tickets are being sold through guest services.
Amazingly, Koons' profile has only increased in recent years, and he's reclaimed the title of highest-priced work among the living after the sale of "Balloon Dog (Orange)," which sold for $58.4 million in late 2013. As the title suggests, it is a sculpture of a balloon animal, but it's 12 feet tall. And like all of the works in the Celebrations series, it's almost impossibly shiny.
Koons and his factory of artisans create the works from high-chromium steel. The example now at Crystal Bridges features a large golden heart affixed the ceiling above the museum's restaurant, Eleven. Looking at the work, even from up close, does not fully relay the size. It's more than 9 feet tall and about 5 feet wide. It's affixed to the ceiling with a giant magenta ribbon, also made of steel. Altogether, the creation weighs 3,000 pounds.
Like all of his works, the "Hanging Heart" and its cousins in the Celebrations family of works are both much ballyhooed and much derided. Some critics compare Koons to Warhol in the way he has turned the ordinary into extraordinary. Other critics have dismissed him as artificial kitsch.
Koons worries more about the interaction the piece achieves with the viewer. He subscribes to what the late Austrian art historian Alois Riegl calls "the beholder's share."
"The work of art is completed inside the viewer," Koons says.
At Crystal Bridges, he calls the presentation of the piece, where it hangs high above diners in a long hallway with a curved ceiling, "perfection."
"It's really engaged with its (room)," he says.
Tonight, during his lecture at the museum, Koons says he will offer a retrospective on his career. He will discuss his journey from small town York, Pa., to the center of the New York City art world, where his studio occupies a quarter of a city block.
"(Art) lets you follow your interests and creates a relationship with life's energy," he says. "Every day, it gives me an opportunity."
And for Koons, it's on a very, very large scale.
NAN What's Up on 07/11/2014