The $20m Art Heart

Bloomberg reports that a nearly 9-foot-tall, stainless- steel heart by Jeff Koons, estimated to sell for as much as $20 million, could set an art auction record for a living artist at Sotheby's contemporary art sale on Nov. 14 in New York. The current record holder is Damien Hirst's Lullaby Spring, a 2002 pill-cabinet sculpture that sold for $19.3 million in June at Sotheby's in London. Koons's glossy, hot-pink heart, which will grace the cover of the art auction catalog, arrived yesterday at Sotheby's York Avenue headquarters, where 15 workers labored for 14 hours to dangle it from the ceiling. It appears light, as if suspended from a curving gold ribbon, yet at 3,500 pounds (1,600 kilograms) it weighs as much as a compact Mercedes. Hanging Heart (Magenta Gold), from the Celebration series, is poignant. "The premise of the work was to send a message to the artist's son that he loved him very much," said Jason Ysenburg of Sonnabend Gallery, which represents the artist. The work is dated 1994-2006, when the complex and costly series was executed. (For full source and full article click the Headline). Irish Art