Artist Jeff Koons Fights For His Balloon Dogs

American artist Jeff Koons, the man behind those giant balloon sculptures of dogs, is trying to stop a San Francisco gallery from selling balloon dog bookends. Rich people are so greedy! But the gallery is fighting back!
The Cost of Inflation
[An 11-foot-tall Jeff Koons' "Balloon Flower" sculpture is on display in front of Christie's in New York. It is expected to sell for around $12 million at auction in November. We should all become artists. Image via AP]
Tart for Tart's Sake
[An image of Bettie Page sexys up a mural being painted in Jeff Koons' studio in Manhattan last night. Image via Getty]
Happy Birthday
Artist Jeff Koons turns 55 today. Cindi Leive, the editor-in-chief of Glamour, is turning 43. Opera great Placido Domingo is 69. Reclusive Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is turning 57. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is 59. Federal judge Kimba Wood is turning 66. Geena Davis is 54. Film heavyweight Mike Medavoy is…
Art, Schooled: Six Ideas for Taking Back Our Taxi Cab Tops
Art! Who goes there? Now: we do. In the first installment of our Sunday art column, Kelsey Keith's got a few ideas for some people who think they know what art's good for New York City's taxis.
The Tourists and the Hare
[Onlookers gawk at Jeff Koons' giant inflatable rabbit installed in London's Covent Garden to celebrate the opening of a new pop art exhibit at the Tate Modern. Image via Getty]
Gagosian Goes Retail
Larry Gagosian's new "art store" (or museum gift shop on steroids) debuted last night. Looking to treat yourself to a Marc Newson marble credenza ($375,000); Richard Prince "Nurse Hat Chair" ($175,000); or Jeff Koons-designed puppy-shaped vase ($7,500)? Look no further! [WSJ]
Dasha Zhukova: The World's Hippest Designer/Editor/Gold Digger
Dasha Zhukova is young and beautiful and has already started a fashion line, opened an art gallery, been appointed editor of a fashion magazine, and gotten knocked up by a Russian oligarch. No wonder people hate her.
The Perry Pop Art Palace
Last week, we pointed your attention to a story in the Post about the very unusual Jeff Koons sculpture that hedge fund mogul Richard Perry and his wife Lisa put out on their penthouse terrace. We mentioned that Vogue had published a set of photos inside the Perry pad a few years ago. Now the magazine tells us they've…
Richard Perry Will Burn You With His Giant Laser
Hedge fund manager Richard Perry and his fashion-designer wife, Lisa Perry, live in a 17-room penthouse on Sutton Place. They're also big-time modern art collectors and home design obsessives. (Their Manhattan apartment earned a 10-page spread in Vogue a few years ago; in the Hamptons, they may own the only house…
Dan Loeb Gets by With a Little Help From His Friends
Hedge fund manager Dan Loeb hasn't had the easiest time as of late. Heavy losses forced him to dismiss a number of employees at the end of 2008 and the $5 billion he managed a year ago had dwindled to $1.8 billion last month. But Loeb is nothing if not crafty and he's since come up with a handful of way to cut costs…
The Wednesday Party Report
Graydon Carter, Robert De Niro, and Ron Perelman hosted a Vanity Fair-sponsored dinner at the State Supreme Court House last night to celebrate the opening of the Tribeca Film Festival. They were joined by Carter and De Niro's wives (Anna Scott Carter and Grace Hightower) and Tribeca Film Fest co-founders Craig…
The Monday Party Report
Filmmaker and Transcendental Meditation enthusiast David Lynch brought Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr together for the first time in years as part of the Change Begins Within benefit at Radio City Music Hall on Saturday night. A slew of celebrity performers and guests were on hand for the occasion, including Sheryl…
Bommer Takes a Cut, Koons Closes
• Hedge funder Scott Bommer and his wife Donya have lowered the price of their 29th-floor apartment at the Ritz-Carlton, which they purchased for $28.5 million last July and put on the market for $35 million in November. It's now listed at $29.75 mil. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Jeff Koons has closed on the purchase of a…
The Wednesday Party Report
Karole Armitage's Armitage Gone! dance company held its annual benefit last night at Capitale. The honorees at the Think Punk! event, Jeff Koons and Earle Mack, celebrated with their wives, Justine and Carole, as well as with attendees like Rufus Wainwright (left), Andre Balazs, Calvin Klein, Fabiola Beracasa, Lou…
LaChapelle Lists in the EV, A Price Cut for Kagan
• Fashion photographer David LaChapelle's two-bedroom pied-à-terre at 170 Second Avenue is now up for sale for $1.65 million. The apartment has been discounted by $100,000 since first hitting the market this fall. [NYM, PDE]
• Furniture designer Vladimir Kagan and his wife, needlepoint artist Erica Wilson, have…
Happy Birthday
Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive turns 42 today. Artist Jeff Koons is 54. Placido Domingo is turning 68. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is turning 56. Geena Davis is 53. Singer Cat Marshall is 37. Legendary (and now retired) Post reporter Steve Dunleavy is celebrating his 71st birthday. Golf legend Jack Nicklaus…
Another Slow Night at Sotheby's
Not even the presence of high-profile collectors like Steve Martin, Valentino, and billionaire Eli Broad (who dropped $8 million on works by Ed Ruscha, Jeff Koons, Robert Rauschenberg, and Donald Judd) could save last night's Sotheby's contemporary art sale from being a big disappointment. Twenty paintings,…
Brant's Dilemma
Think it's easy being a rich art collector and the husband of a supermodel? Think again. Just consider the upkeep required of Peter Brant to keep Jeff Koons's famous 40-foot-tall Westie, which is made out of flowers and greenery, in tip-top shape: "Every spring, the reinstallation of "Puppy" requires 10 men to labor…
