Jeff Koons' 'Train' would break a record

London's Art Newspaper has reported that, if built as planned at the entry plaza of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, sculptor Jeff Koons' life-size replica of a motorized locomotive suspended from a construction crane will be the most expensive artwork ever commissioned by a museum. Prior honors, if that's the right word, go to the Guggenheim Bilbao for its $20-million Richard Serra sculptural group.

The price tag for "Train" is $25 million.

I'd assume that's a ballpark guesstimate, because engineering and fabrication costs have a way of evolving over time. The steel-and-aluminum "Train" is a 70-foot replica of a 1943 Baldwin 2900-series steam locomotive, and the aim is to suspend it vertically from an actual 161-foot-tall construction crane. The wheels will rotate, smoke will puff from the smokestack and the whistle will blow, all at as-yet-unspecified intervals.

At LACMA's blog Unframed, John Bowsher, director of special art installations, was quoted in October describing the design-process as "reverse-engineering." An actual 1943 machine is being digitally scanned, piece by piece, so that the new parts then can be fabricated and assembled to create a shiny doppelgänger.

For comparison, what else might that kind of money buy? The Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo auctioned off its great Hellenistic/early Roman Imperial bronze "Artemis and the Stag" for $25.5 million ($28.6 million with buyer's premium) in 2007; the unidentified European collector who bought the smaller-than-life-size sculpture placed it on long-term loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. At the time, it had fetched the highest price known to have been paid for any sculpture.

Imperial Rome having gotten quite good at copying older Greek motifs, the late Hellenistic/early Roman "Artemis" represents a transition from one historical era into another. "Train," as a simulacrum that represents the still-dawning Digital Era memorializing the passing Industrial Age, seems similarly destined.

Installation at LACMA is planned for 2012. Obviously, given the condition of Imperial America right now, fundraising for fabrication of the sculpture ought to be interesting.

-- Christopher Knight

Photo (top): "Train" by Jeff Koons. Credit: Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Photo (bottom): "Artemis and the Stag," artist unknown. Credit: Associated Press

Comments

[Donald Frazell]

Yes, Imperial Clothing strikes again. What a waste, the Age of Excess is apparently not over, where bigger is better, no matter how ridiculous. You wanna go see trains? Go to Lomita and the Train musuem there, you can actualy touch real ones not have copies poised over your head like a plastic shark at Universal Studios. Get out of the house artistes, and save us all some money. There is plenty to see out there in the real world, I know you want all your favorite toys at your playground, but some adult has to say that magical word.
NO.
Time to grow up,and put aside childish things.

I know what my next petitions is about now. Better not be any public money in this, but is inevitable, as monies raised would have gone to areas public moines will now have to pay for.

NO!!!

sigh, once again, art collegia delenda est

[Heath]

This will be an impressive piece, no doubts about it. It's a shame that money is being spent on an artist like Koons, though. Like Warhol back in the day, Koons has shot through the roof in terms of price and fame. And also like Warhol, it will come down again as people reconsider the fact that the artist is mostly famous for being famous over any lasting value.

I'd love to see the money spent on more timeless work -- like the Serra pieces they already bought (good on them for that!) or a work by Anish Kapoor... this price for the Koons piece is barely less than what Cloud Gate (aka "The Bean") cost in Chicago. And this train piece just won't be anywhere near as timeless. The train, like most of Koons' work, is a one-liner. An overly expensive gag, and in thirty years, LACMA will realize the monumental joke sitting in front of its museum. Sad, really.

[BW]

...is it just me or would Chris Burden maybe be able to give some advice?

[Don't Be JEALOUS]

Jeff Koons is a genius. The train represents an end of an era. Wake up people!
I can't wait to see what he does next. Can I get a Camille Claudel in the bathroom though. Let's dance.

[dt]

Say what you want about Koons, but this would be a magnificent stunner and a centerpiece of the museum. Let's be serious about Chicago's Cloud Gate. it's nothing more than an effort of touristy monumentalism. "Timeless" because it's overly self-conscious of presenting itself as being tasteful. A suspended train, at least, is more ballsy.

This money could be used to restore a REAL steam locomotive not some crack pot's idea.

[soldierguy]

What a load of crap!! With all the needs we have on the planet--an homage to transportation? Want to save the planet? Stay home and quit moving around! Whether its planes, trains, automobiles, or steamships they all reflect the notion of "entitlement" in the belief that we can and should go anywhere/anytime no matter the environmental cost. So far this isn't true? And until we develop beyond burning polluting fossil fuels there's always a cost. And we have to deal with it. And as an artist tell Jeff Koons to get a job at McDonalds.

[J. Pond]

Scottish sculptor George Wyllie created a straw locomotive in 1987. See this link for a photo. http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/springburn/spring096.htm Interesting forerunner of Koons idea.