Jeff’s salute to all that is great and good in this history of Jeffs!

This week’s Jeff is Jeff Koons!

Jeff Koons is an American artist who lives and works in New York. He is very famous for making balloon animals. And in 2013, his orange balloon dog sold for $58.4 million. I think this is because it is very difficult to find orange balloons. His work is described as Neo-pop or Post-pop, but I don’t think this is a reference to the care needed around his balloon animals.

Jeff Koons has also made a series of vacuum cleaners. I think he belongs to the Vacuumism art movement, along with James Dyson, James B Kirby, and William Henry “Boss” Hoover.

Howard’s favourite Koons series involves basketballs floating in water. Basketballs and water are two of Howard’s favourite things. Howard may not know art but he knows what he likes.

But of course, one of the most famous of Jeff’s works is the 13 m (43 ft) topiary West Highland White Terrier Puppy, entitled Puppy. But he then started breeding puppies and in 1998 he made 3000 of them as a vase. I presume this was a comment on the empty vessel of unregulated dog breeding. Not to mention all the copies of the balloon dogs on Amazon.

Wind is obviously a big part of Jeff’s creative process (something else he has in common with Howard) – in and out – and balloon animals continue to feature in his work. Interestingly, he got an award for his contribution to visual culture, presented by the Edgar Wind Society, at the University of Oxford. But I’m assured “what’s in a name?”

Jeff Koons is a big fan of Salvador Dali and has even met him. Salvador Dali made a film called An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou), but I was very disappointed to find out that there isn’t a dog in the film, not one.

Jeff Koons has also been immortalised in song. I’m not sure if Jeff is friends with Jay Z, but Mr Z mentioned him in his song Picasso Baby, where he insisted that he wanted a billion Jeff Koons balloons. Which just seems over the top to me. Perhaps he will store them deflated. And Momus (aka Nicholas Currie) has devoted a whole song to him, Jeff Koons, and he mentions the puppy, the basketballs, and all the balloons, among other things. It is like a catalogue set to a catchy pop tune.

Jeff Koons is obviously a dog lover, especially inflatable or topiary ones.

Jeff Koons, we salute you!