September 10, in the Versailles palace complex near Paris, opened exhibition by American artist Jeff Koons (Jeff Koons) . The most famous works of the author - the enormous steel sculptures of children's toys, a porcelain sculpture of Michael Jackson (Michael Jackson) with the monkey and the installation of vacuum cleaners. Critics have compared Koons with art provocateurs, like Marcel Duchamp (Marcel Duchamp), and Andy Warhol (Andy Warhol). The works by American artist brings at auctions fantastic amounts: Koons currently holds second place in the list of sponsors of the most expensive works of living Artists . A rating of Top-500 most successful artists , compiled by Artprice.com, he in the first place. Exhibition in Versailles showed that his work is interesting not just some love for pop art critics and fans speculate on public tenders, but the normal audience. Last weekend the organizers of the exhibition said that nearly two months it was visited by more than 250 thousand people.

This figure looks even more impressive if you know that September in Versailles, as they say, «no season». B on The majority of visitors to the palace complex is coming there in summer and cold in the fall of Versailles is not very crowded. Seeing how popular Jeff Koons, the organizers decided to extend the exhibition. It was supposed to close on 14 December but will now go before the 4 January.

At Versailles you can see the cheerful 17 Koons sculptures and installations, including its main «hits» - futuristic rabbit (recently, by the way, fulfilling a central role in presenting enchanting Drama Queens) , Michael Jackson with a monkey, hanging heart (the same that was sold for 23 6 million dollars last year), as well as a dog and a flower out of balloons. On the opening day of the exhibition was a small demonstration demanding to remove works by American artist from the palace. According to them, Koons sculpture should not stand in Versailles, and Disneyland. However, the president of Versailles, Jean-Jacques Ayyagon (Jean-Jacques Aillagon) said that the exhibition of this kind help «reinvigorate» historic site.

palace and park ensemble of Versailles was built in the XVII century. For its time, its luxurious interiors, and gardens became a symbol of wealth and waste - as well as sculptures of Koons today. If, for example, Marie-Antoinette lived today, she would certainly not renounced any of the suspended heart in their rooms.

Koons honor, not only in France but also in Germany. October 31 in New Berlin National Gallery opened an exhibition of his works, most of which also exhibited a hanging heart, not purple, as at Versailles, and violet. The exhibition will run until 8 February. It is part of the project «The cult of the artist», in which the exhibition is also being Joseph Beuys (Joseph Beuys) , Paul Klee (Paul Klee), Andy Warhol (Andy Warhol) and Alberto Giacometti (Alberto Giacometti).

P.S. On this topic, you can also read the following materials:

Jeff Koons and Damien Hurst: Chuk and Gek Market Contemporary art
Sculpture is experiencing an unprecedented boom auction
Jeff Koons and others - in Beijing
Contemporary Art: do not wait to buy
modern world Art: cash, events, trends

Material prepared Yulia Maksimova

Sources: cbc.ca , artknowledgenews.com , artinvestment.ru