Smashing records, Koons' art is hotter than ever

By Christopher Michaud

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. artist Jeff Koons is praised as an avant-garde chronicler of commercial pop culture and slammed as a peddler of trendy, meaningless kitsch.

But with the record-smashing sale of his "Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold)" at Sotheby's on Wednesday night, his works have become among the hottest of properties.

The 3,500-pound (1,600-kg) sculpture was sold to the Gagosian Gallery in Manhattan for $23,561,000 (11,456,736 pounds), eclipsing its high pre-sale estimate of $20 million and establishing a record for any living artist's work at auction.

Anthony Grant, Sotheby's international senior contemporary art specialist, called the price "the most important record of the last two weeks of sales" at Sotheby's and rival Christie's.

The sale also smashed the $11.8 million record for a Koons set only a day before when "Diamond (Blue)" a 7-foot- (2.1-metre) wide stainless steel sculpture of a diamond was bought by Gagosian at a Christie's auction, although the price fell short of expectations.

By comparison, "Hanging Heart," a 9-foot (2.7-metre) stainless steel magenta heart hanging from a stainless steel gold bow from Koons' "Celebration" series, drew competitive and spirited bidding.

Koons, 52, a one-time Wall Street commodities broker, burst on the art scene in the 1980s aided by an image consultant. He added to his fame with his marriage and contentious split from Italian porn star Ilona Staller, known as "La Cicciolina," in the 1990s.

In a 1986 interview with the Journal of Contemporary Art, Koons said his art was based in media and advertising. "The media defines reality," he said.