Saint John
The Baptist
Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, St. John the Baptist, Koons’ sculpture
was made in the same pose but he also added a pig and a bird into the saint’s
arms. His outstretched arm points to a cross.It has been described as “an
insouciant yet sinister conflation of the sacred and the profane”.
One edition of the sculpture was set to go on show at the Wright Exhibition Space
in Seattle in February 2004, but it was discovered to have a sizeable crack along
the arm. Bought in 1991 for US$150,000, the damage is expected to have
reduced the resale price of the piece, though none of the editions have been sold
at auction since. Patricia Leavengood, a sculpture conservation specialist, partly
restored the damage and reduced the visibility of the crack. She noted, however,
that “When it cracked, part of it slid forward and can’t be moved back into place
porcelain wasn’t meant to exist at this size. My primary task is to stabilize the
piece, and that I can do.”
Saint John The Baptist, Exposition at Los Angeles
County Museum of Art 2012
1988, Jeff Koons
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