Banality (sculpture series)

Looking helplessly up at the bear, the expression on the policeman's face holds the key to enjoying Koons' work: a temporary suspension of adulthood, a return to seeing the world through a child's perspective.

The upper torso and head of the woman are featured in the sculpture, her breasts exposed beneath a sparsely-knitted dress.

The catalogue colourfully described the work as a "Walt Disney version of an erotic fantasy ... juxtaposing a strong sexual element with the saccharine sweetness of decorative knicknacks".

[10] Koons based the design of the woman on a photograph of porn actress Ilona Staller that featured in Stern.

[3] In November 2001 an edition of the sculpture was auctioned by Phillips de Pury & Company with an estimate of up to US$2.5 million but it failed to sell.

Robert Storr, curator of the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, commented on the piece: "His mating of Jayne Mansfield and the eponymous cartoon character in Pink Panther is a thoroughly enjoyable send-up of heterosexual rapture and celebrity romance.

His depiction of the character caused legal issues and Koons was sued for copyright infringement, eventually settling out of court.

[23] One edition of Pink Panther was sold at Sotheby's in May 2011 with a complementary description in the catalogue entry: "Representing the highest tier of Jeff Koons' artistic achievement, Pink Panther is immediately identifiable as a masterpiece not only of the artist's historic canon, but also of the epoch of recent Contemporary Art.

[26] 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.

[29] 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.

Patricia Leavengood, a sculpture conservation specialist, partly restored the damage and reduced the visibility of the crack.

Koons found the picture on a postcard and, when he gave it to his assistants with instructions on how to model the sculpture, he asked that as much detail be copied as possible.

He requested a few changes to the original, asking for the puppies to be blue with exaggerated noses, and for flowers to be added to the hair of the man and woman.

In 1993, United Feature Syndicate, Inc. sued Koons for his unsanctioned use of Odie, successfully arguing that he had breached copyright law.