«GOOD BUSINESS IS THE BEST ART»

Ever so clever and tapped into the zeitgeist, the German publishing house Taschen recently sent out an e-mail blast promoting a new art book. KOONS FOR THE POOR! read the subject heading. At almost 600 pages, the book showcases the American king of kitsch art's "entire oeuvre to date, at a decidedly unKoonsian price" of $70, the e-mail read. (On Amazon, it's $44.10.) In 2007, the artist's "Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold)" sold at auction for $23.6 million, setting the record at the time for a sculpture by a living and still very productive artist. Just last summer, a buyer paid $25.7 million for Koons's "Balloon Flower (Magenta)."

Newsweek
April 6 2009