Gazing Ball (Rubens Tiger Hunt)

American artist Jeff Koons (b. 1955) is widely recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures of everyday objects. “Gazing Ball (Rubens Tiger Hunt)” is part of Koons’ Gazing Ball series which began in 2013 as an ode to classic masterpieces and their interaction with society today. The series began in 2013 when Koons affixed mirrored blue hand-blown glass balls to replicas of classical sculptures. In 2015, Koons expanded this to paintings and prints by adding blue spheres to art historical masterpieces, such as da Vinvi’s “Mona Lisa” and Manet’s “Luncheon on the Grass.” Ruben’ “Tiger Hunt” clearly references the past, while Koons’ gazing ball (a convention from eighteenth-century garden design) encourages viewers to contemplate the present as the mirrored surface reflects them and their surroundings.