Oversized $30 Million Koons Monkey Heads to Christie’s

Multimillionaire British collector Frank Cohen waited eight years for the Jeff Koons sculpture he had purchased to be completed. It turned out that “Balloon Monkey (Orange)” was too big for his nonprofit art center in London.

So now he’s selling it. The 2006-2013 orange stainless steel creature is heading to Christie’s with an estimate of $20 million to $30 million and will be among the highlights of the bellwether postwar and contemporary evening sale on Nov. 12 in New York. At Sotheby’s on Nov. 11, artist Damien Hirst is said to be parting with a Koons artwork he owns, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the information is private. “Moon (Yellow),” a stainless-steel sculpture of a mylar balloon that can be mounted on a wall, is estimated at $12 million to $18 million.