Jeff Koons at Versailles
 

This sounds excellent - http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...ch-924515.html

Since visting Versailles at 18 I've never felt the need to go again, but this does tempt me.

I agree Caroline - very tempting.

I'm thinking about going myself. I haven't been inside the château for about 10 years either, so this is clearly a way to get people to go there who wouldn't normally go, now that the tourist seasons has calmed down.

Thanks for posting! I like Koons' sculpture! I don't know how I managed to miss this news, but I'm excited now as we're planning to visit Versailles next week.

I saw an installation of Koonz at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in June. It was interesting.

The sculptures are huge and they are shiny. I took a picture and I can see myself in the statue.

I have always wanted to make out with Jeff Koons.

Thin

You may have your chance since he is no longer with La Cicciolina. Their marriage only lasted a year, but she ran off with their son.

the New York times has a take on this exhibit.
www.newyorktimes.com
scroll down to arts

I am a big fan of Jeff Koons. I was immediately drawn to his work when I saw "Michael Jackson and Bubbles" at the Whitney Biennial (can't even remember what year that was).

His "Flower Dog" in Rockefeller Center was fabulous, especially after all the plants started to grow.

I will see his work when I visit Versailles in November.

I think Damien Hirst should put one of his sharks in a fountain at Versailles. :)

Thin

NYT article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/ar...gn/11koon.html

The article does mention that the Hall of Mirrors was closed for an installation. I guess it's probably open now.

Some of visitor reactions are just funny -- like "I paid to see all of Versailles.... I didn’t come here to see a red lobster that I can buy in a gas station in Quebec to go in my pool."

It's an interesting read. They even interviewed Jeff Koons. From what I gather he's a very meticulous artist. I've yet to appreciate his art, but he's an obvious darling of the art market, at least based on current prices. And art critics are nearly uniformly positive about his work as well.

You're all welcome.

Well, I couldn't resist it - even though I have no holidays or money left, I just scored Easyjet tickets for £60 for each of us, going on a Saturday & back Sunday :-)

P.S. Thanks for the other link, 111op. yk, please post your impressions & any tips ! We'll be going on Sunday 23 Nov.

Looks like fun. The photos would be more interesting than the ones I took at Versailles the one time I went. Wish I could scoot over for the weekend for £60 myself.

Have a great time, caroline!

Jeff Koons is very much in the news lately. There was a retrospective in Chicago, and he was chosen as this year's artist for the roof garden at the Metropolitan Museum. I guess it's not surprising that he's enjoying the spotlight in France as well.

But I think the NYT article hints that Francois Pinault may have a hand in this. After all, this lends prestige to Pinault's own collection, and Pinault is also the owner of Christie's, the auction house.

It's interesting when art & business comingle. I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning, and Larry Gagosian (the art dealer) will send artworks to an abandoned chocolate factory in Moscow to be viewed and sold. Among them is another Koons, this one like a wrapped chocolate egg (not for sale).

Thanks 111op. Interesting thoughts & I think you are right. Pinault is also paying for the new contemporary art museum in Venice, isn't he ? I didn't realised he owns Christie's.

A talking point here is Damien Hirst sidestepping his dealers & selling new work through Sotheby's. I tend to think this is wrong, as dealers put up the money for premises, adveryising etc to showcase unknown artists and to me it is only honourable for the artist (and buyers) to stick with them when the money rolls in. And it's not as if Hirst needs the extra 50% or 60%.

Damien Hirst's diamond skull will be at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam from 1 November to 15 December if anyone is interested in seeing this piece of bling.

Yes, Palazzo Grassi is Pinault's creation also. I saw the news about Hirst and Sotheby's also. I wonder what his motivation is. Probably more $.

I'm not sure how much Pinault actually owns of Christie's. If you do a search, there's an NYT article from 10 years ago (1998) that Pinault bought a 29.1% stake of Christie's at that time. I'd imagine that the stake has gone up since.

The line between auction houses and dealers is actually not as clear as you may think. Haunch of Vension is now owned by Christie's. And I can't remember which old master's gallery -- but a very famous one -- has auction house ties. Actually even the line between auction houses and museums is not as clear as one thinks.

Speaking of Hirst's diamond skull I think the news is that it was sold to a consortium of investors of which Hirst was one. I've always wondered if that means that it couldn't find a real buyer.

I'm not really a fan of Hirst's works either.

More about auction houses & galleries, in case anyone is interested:

http://www.nysun.com/arts/auction-ho...dealers/52493/

The old master's gallery I may be thinking of is Noortman, owned by Sotheby's.

The various conflcts of interest are interesting to think about. You have conflicts of interest when the museums come into play. Placement of works in museums increase their value. And there's been a trend for museums to get private collectors to finance their special exhibitions and retrospectives.

Perhaps in the end, everyone gains and it's a win-win situation?

Hi 111op. I didn't mean Palazzo Grassi but the new one on the site of the old Customs House - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007...5/italy.france. I didn't know Haunch of Venison is owned by Christie's. I'm also not a great fan of Hirst's although I did find some of his early stuff, particularly the shark and 'A Thousand Years' quite compelling at the time.

I think you're right, we all win - we the ordinary punters get to see more art, even if we can't afford to buy it !

I missed that news, caroline. Thanks! I didn't realize that Selma Hayek has Pinault's baby too. Gosh, the info you learn from reading Fodor's. :-)

There's an article on the Hirst auction in today's NYT.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/ar...gn/15auct.html

His timing is surely "impeccable," when only two investment banks on Wall Street remain independent today. I'm curious to see how he fares. The article claims that auction estimates are about 50% of dealer prices -- but I suppose that probably tends to be the case anyway. It's what they will end up fetching (or not) that's really the question.