Koons’s Puppy Sets $58 Million Record for Living Artist

Jeff Koons’s sculpture “Balloon Dog” sold for $58.4 million at Christie’s in New York tonight, an auction record for a living artist.

Estimated at $35 million to $55 million, the 10-foot-tall stainless-steel structure was consigned by newsprint magnate Peter Brant.

Christie’s guaranteed “Balloon Dog” would sell for an undisclosed minimum price, financed through third parties.

The price smashed Koons’s previous record of $33.7 million and the record for the most expensive living artist, held by Gerhard Richter, whose 1968 painting, “Domplatz, Mailand,” sold for $37.1 million at Sotheby’s in May.