Jeff Koons, the world’s most expensive living artist at auction, has returned to the roster of his former dealer Larry Gagosian after his dramatic exit in 2021.
Four years ago, Koons left Gagosian and David Zwirner, the mega-galleries that had shown his big-ticket work for years, to be represented by Pace exclusively. At the time, Koons said in a statement that “the environment in which my work is viewed and supported would be a positive thing”. Last year, Kenny Schachter reported in Artnet News that Pace and Koons had parted ways over the financing of an expensive new sculpture series.
Koons’s return to Gagosian follows the gallery staging a solo stand dedicated to his sculptures from the Hulk Elvis series, all priced around $3.5m, at Frieze New York in May.
When an edition of Koons’s sculpture Rabbit (1986) sold for a record-breaking $91.1m (including fees) at Christie’s New York in 2019, he became the most expensive living artist.