Human Interest Woman Shatters Iconic Jeff Koons 'Balloon Dog' Sculpture Worth $42,000 at Art Show: 'Very Sorry' An unnamed guest at a Miami art show "wanted to disappear" after accidentally knocking over the famed artist's porcelain blue dog that looks like it was twisted into shape out of a balloon By Marisa Sullivan Marisa Sullivan Digital News Writer People Editorial Guidelines Published on February 20, 2023 02:00PM EST A guest at a contemporary art fair in Miami accidentally shattered a $42,000 sculpture by artist Jeff Koons, according to multiple news outlets. Witnesses at the annual Art Wynwood event on Thursday said a female art collector tapped a blue version of Koons' iconic "Balloon Dog" with her finger, causing it to topple over and break, the BBC reported. Per CNN's account, a rep for the art gallery hosting the piece said the woman gave an "unintentional kick to the pedestal" where the sculpture was placed. PEOPLE reached out to the Bel-Air Fine Art galleries and Jeff Koons for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Local artist and collector Stephen Gamson told the Miami Herald he wondered at first if breaking the shiny blue dog, which looks like it was fashioned out of a balloon, was part of the "performance," but then realized it was truly an accident. "When this thing fell to the ground, it was like how a car accident draws a huge crowd on the highway," Gamson told the paper, which noted that the loss would be covered by insurance. Artist Stephen Gamson | @GamsonArt Bénédicte Caluch, an art advisor with Bel-Air Fine Art galleries, said that the fiasco at the annual fair was truly "an event" as guests gathered to watch the tiny blue shards get swept up into a dustpan. Art Critic Accused of Accidentally Shattering $20,000 Glass Sculpture with a Coke Can "Everybody came to see what happened," Caluch told the Herald. Cédric Boero, who also works for the galleries, told The New York Times: "Life just stopped for 15 minutes with everyone around." The woman responsible for destroying the piece, he added, was "very very sorry" and "just wanted to disappear." Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Boero, the gallery's district manager who was managing the Art Wynwood booth, also told CNN: "Of course, it is heartbreaking to see such an iconic piece destroyed." Jeff Koons Designs Split-Flavor Margarita to Match His 'Split Rocker' Sculpture The sculpture, according to the Bel-Air Fine Art site, measured 40 x 48 x 16 centimeters and was made of porcelain. There are 799 editions of the sculpture, which range in size. Koons' balloon figures are some of the most expensive contemporary art pieces. In 2019, "Rabbit," a piece from 1986, was sold for $91 million at Christie's New York, breaking the record for most expensive art piece sold by a living artist, and "Balloon Dog (Orange) from his 1994-2000 series sold for $58.4 million six years prior.