A giant sculpture by American artist Jeff Koons is to go on display in London before being sold for an estimated £12 million.
The work, in the shape of a pink, shiny balloon twisted into a flower, will be in St James's Square from June 21 until Christie's sale of post-War and contemporary art on June 30. Balloon Flower (Magenta), 1995-2000, is the most valuable and significant work by Koons to be sold in Europe. It is being sold by the Rachofsky Collection in Dallas. At about three metres square, the sculpture, which was designed to be in the open air, is too big to get through the doors of the auction house. The work is one of a series, called Celebration, that Koons, 53, created over the course of a decade.
