This morning while I was working on another post, I got an e-mail from Louis Vuitton that made my heart leap with joy and that I wanted to share with you immediately. The French Maison is collaborating with Jeff Koons for a collection called «Masters» for which the famous American pop artist remixes the iconic artworks of the old masters and presents them in a way that encourages new interpretations.
Balloon Dog (Orange) © Jeff Koons
signed and dated ‘Jeff Koons 1994-2000’ (on the underside) , mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating , 121 x 143 x 45 in. (307.3 x 363.2 x 114.3 cm)
Executed in 1994-2000. This work is one of five unique versions (Blue, Magenta, Orange, Red, Yellow).
With Jeff Koons in New York City in 2013 for the Balloon Venus launch event with Dom Pérignon.
Since Marc Jacobs enlisted Stephen Sprouse to create the now-iconic graffiti range in 2001, Louis Vuitton has led the way in the fashion/art collaboration stakes. Koons, whose Balloon Dog (Orange) holds the record for the most expensive art work by a living artist after it sold for $58.4 million at Christie’s New York in November 2013, follows in the footsteps of Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Daniel Buren and Damien Hirst by partnering with Louis Vuitton.
Gazing Ball (Ariadne), 2013, Plaster and Glass
112.6 x 238.4 x 93cm, Edition no. 3/3
Monsoon Art Collection, © Jeff Koons
For his collaboration with Louis Vuitton, Koons seeked inspiration from his Gazing Ball series that he started in 2013 as a series of plaster reproductions of famous ancient sculptures, each one set with a blue mirrored sphere. It’s these hand-painted Old Master reproductions that appear on the limited-edition Masters range of iconic Louis Vuitton handbags as well, from Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Titian’s Mars, Venus and Cupid, Fragonard’s Girl with a Dog, Van Gogh’s Wheat Fields and Cypresses to Rubens’ Tiger Hunt.
The beautiful interior of the Rubens Palm Springs backpack (more photos below…)
The name of each original artist is emblazoned across the front, and their biography and portrait are featured inside. Absolutely new for Louis Vuitton is that a collaborator features his own initials on the bags. A sign for the importance of his status.
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection
Fragonard Speedy 30
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection
Titian Neverfull MM
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection
Da Vinci Speedy 30 in Poppy
Fans of Koons’ Inflatables series get their money’s worth; each piece is finished with a leather tag in the shape of the inflatable rabbit that Koons famously cast in polished stainless steel in 1986.
My personal three favorites are:
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection
Rubens Palm Springs Backpack
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection
Rubens Keepall 50
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection
Van Gogh Montaigne MM
The Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters collection will be available from April 28 in stores and at louisvuitton.com. Below you can enjoy the beautiful teaser.
LoL, Sandra
Photos: © Louis Vuitton, © Jeff Koons, © Sandra Bauknecht, Louis Vuitton Malletier/Melanie & Ramon
