How Jeff Koons Manufactures The Most Expensive Art in The World

For Koons' 'Gazing Ball' series of classical painting replicas, the studio developed an even more comprehensive process: the original paintings were separated into composite colors in Photoshop, stencils were created for each color, and the painting's initial layers on canvas were positioned relative to the original reference, with each small area containing 250-300 colors and the average painting containing 7,000 total colors.

“for the very large collection of gazing ball paintings where the studio perfectly replicated around 50 classical paintings the team would first separate the original painting into its composite colors in Photoshop and then make a stencil shape of that particular color so that the painting's initial layers on the canvas were perfectly positioned relative to the original reference each small area of that process on the on the canvas had around 250 to 300 colors with the average painting having 7,000 colors in total most of which have to be premixed and carefully laid out”

Despite employing large studios, Koons' actual output of finished paintings is quite low: approximately 172 paintings over his career (mostly between 1995 and 2017), averaging 7-8 paintings per year, compared to Andy Warhol's 10,000 works over his lifetime (approximately 200 paintings per year).

“whilst it does seem like COA Studio has produced a large number of paintings the finished output is actually quite low compared to Andy warhol's Factory for example which produced some 10,000 wordss over his lifetime meaning a steady flow of about 200 paintings coming up for auction every year C has produced around 172 paintings give or take a few based on own counting on his website mostly produced between 1995 and 2017 which is about 7 to eight paintings a year”

Koons' painting process is unusually tedious and elaborate: the artist first creates a digital collage of the artwork on a computer, then assistants transfer it onto canvas using carbon paper, then undergo extensive color matching by hand.

“Coons requires an unusually tedious and maybe unnecessarily elaborate painting process where the first stage involves Coons creating the collage of the artwork on a computer and then the crew transfer the artwork onto the canvas using carbon paper and then they begin the extensive process of color matching”

As the studio produced work, it began to heavily systematize the mixing and application of paint so that all assistants' hands became unified in their execution—eliminating differences in color or application from one assistant to another.

“eventually the studio started to heavily systemize the mixing and application of pain so that you know by the end of it all of the assistants hands were one in a sense and so there were no differences in color or application from one assistant to the other”

Hiring studio assistants is a necessary part of the contemporary art production process for many artists due to strong financial and commercial incentives to increase the quantity of work or achieve an impossible level of perfection.

“in today's world with strong financial and Commercial incentives to increase the quantity of work or provide an impossible level of perfection hiring assistance is a necessary part of the process for many artists”

Koons' famous Balloon Dog sculpture was not manufactured in Koons' New York studio but by Carlson and Co (a specialist fabricator in San Fernando, California) between 1994 and 2000, requiring old-fashioned Greek and Roman-era measurement techniques to scale the small original balloon model into a large stainless steel sculpture.

“his famous balloon dog sculpture wasn't manufactured in K's New York Studio but actually by a company called Carlson and Co in San Fernando California one of the world's leading specialist Fabricators at the time since the piece was made many years ago between 1994 and 2000 in order to turn the small original balloon model into a large sculpture the company actually had to use old-fashioned measurement techniques dating back to the age of Greek and Roman times”

Koons established one of his first factory-like studios in SoHo, New York in the mid-1980s with over 30 assistants; by the early 2000s he employed as many as 120 assistants; and by 2019 he operated a 16,000 sq ft studio factory with varying staff depending on financial conditions.

“coun has operated one of the industry's largest Studio practices for many years and in the mid 1980s he established one of his first factory like studios in SoHo New York staffed with over 30 assistants in the early 2000s [ __ ] had as many as 120 assistants in his studio and then up until 2019 he had a 16,000 ft Studio factory with varying numbers of assistants depending on the financial stability and status of the business”

Koons' studio uses large custom-built wooden platforms with chairs positioned to allow multiple assistants to access different parts of a large canvas simultaneously, with structures doubling as storage for equipment and materials, representing a thoughtful ergonomic design not commonly seen in other creative spaces.

“one of the interesting aspects about the studio setup that you might have noticed in a few of these images are these large custom built wooden platforms that some of the assistants use to access different parts of the canvus some with chairs positioned in quite precarious positions...I do quite like the way they've designed them to provide multiple people access to the canvas at the same time and then there are different levels depending on the the piece that they're working on and of course the structures double as storage locations for equipment and materials”

Andy Warhol's factory studio in the 1960s pioneered an assembly-line approach to creating visual work at unprecedented scale and speed, allowing the artist to claim authorship of pieces in which he had no direct hand in execution.

“when Andy Warhol created his New York studio in the 1960s many Saw His assembly line approach to creating visual work as a groundbreaking business model...he gave birth to a new form of artistic and creative process where the artist could call a work of art his work without playing a single part in its execution”

Creating smooth contours for sculptures like Balloon Dog is extremely challenging because the shapes are very simple and suggestive, meaning any form imperfection is highly visible—requiring 60 parts to be welded to produce the round limbs and torso.

“part of the challenge was creating a smooth contour for sculptures like balloon dog in which 60 parts were welded to produce the round Limbs and torso what makes it so tricky is that these are very simple shapes and suggestive Mr assum it so if the form doesn't look 100% perfect the defects really stand out”

During color matching, assistants mix paints by hand to match very specific areas on a reference photo, creating small labeled paint samples that map to corresponding areas on the reference image—a practice common among artists but executed at unprecedented levels of detail in Koons' studio.

“the printed out versions are color matched by hand which means that the assistant will mix paints to match a very small and specific area on the hand for example and then they'll make a larger sample of that paint mix label it appropriately and then map it onto the reference photo...mixing paints to match a printed digital reference image is very common practice among artists...but certainly not at this level of detail”

After initial color areas are applied in the Gazing Ball series, hyper-detailed brushwork is required to recreate small details and textures of the original classical paintings, with reference images printed at full scale and repeatedly flipped back and forth over the painting area to ensure pixel-perfect recreation.

“after all of the main color areas have been applied then the the hyper detailed brush work is required to actually recreate all of the small details and textures of the original classical paintings the artist will have the reference printed out in full scale and kind of flip it back and forth over the painting area to ensure that they're producing a Pixel Perfect Recreation of the original classical painting”

Assistants in Koons' studio use tiny brushes for all painting work, never sponges or larger tools, because Koons demands an extremely smooth finish that resembles photorealistic precision rather than visible brushstrokes.

“another factor is that no matter how large the image his assistants use tiny brushes as Coons attested in an interview each of these broad sweeps is hand painted with very small brushes we never use sponges or anything larger and so the reason that the assistants have to use such small brushes is because Coons is always looking for an extremely smooth finish to the work”

For the painting 'Triple Popeye,' there are 141 different colors just for the portion of a hand, and in other pieces 30-40 different colors are required for just one tiny spot in the painting.

“in this case there are 141 colors just for this portion of the hand and you can see this slightly fuzzy photo on a different piece 30 or 40 different colors just for this one tiny spot in the painting which is pretty crazy”

Koons' sculpture 'Pink Ballerina,' an 8-foot-tall marble replica of a small $150 porcelain ballerina his grandmother owned, required 33,000 hours of hand work and polishing according to the head of Koons' hand finishing department, Ayama Ioma.

“the production of Jeff sculptures is also interesting to examine the process for creating pink ballerina an 8ft tall marble replica of a small $150 porcelain ballerina his grandmother had also required an enormous amount of time and labor to finish requiring 33,000 hours just for the hand workk and polishing according to the head of Coon's hand finishing Department ayama ioma”

Beyond hand work, Pink Ballerina also required thousands of hours to scan the small original model and translate those details into instructions for machines to carve the actual large sculpture.

“not to mention the thousands of hours required to scan the model and translate those details into instructions for machines to carve the actual sculpture”

Carlson and Co achieved the mirror polish finish on Balloon Dog in bright colors like magenta and blue through a multi-stage process involving adhesive application followed by automobile-type paint, but the exact techniques remain proprietary and undisclosed.

“the company also had to figure out how to achieve this mirror polish finish in bright colors like magenta and blue Carson's experts will not give away those secret except to say that it's a multi-stage process involving the application of certain adhesives before an automobile type pain goes on”