Wild Boy and Puppy
Jeff Koons
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Date:1988; United States -
Style:Neo-Pop Art -
Genre:sculpture -
Media:porcelain
Wild Boy and Puppy
Jeff Koons
Wild Boy and Puppy is a porcelain sculpture featuring a yellow cartoon dog, a "wild boy" with red spiky hair, and a bumblebee in a basket. The cartoon dog is a clear replica of Odie from the Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis with only minimal changes. In 1993, United Feature Syndicate, Inc. sued Koons for his unsanctioned use of Odie, successfully arguing that he had breached copyright law. Koons had defended himself in other cases using the parody argument but could not do so here—he testified to being unaware of the source of the character and therefore could not have directed the parody at the comic.[7][32]
One edition of the sculpture sold in November 2004 for US$1.5 million, significantly higher than its US$400,000 estimate.[33]
