Bel-Air Fine Art was displaying the piece at its booth at Art Wynwood, a contemporary art fair in Miami.
In a statement shared with CNN over email, the gallery's district manager, Cédric Boero, who was managing the Art Wynwood booth, told CNN that the gallery serves as "one of the official representatives for the famous Jeff Koons balloon dogs sculptures."
"Of course it is heartbreaking to see such an iconic piece destroyed," said Boero.
He said the piece fell after an unnamed art collector visiting the booth unintentionally kicked the pedestal during the fair's opening cocktail hour Thursday evening.
Bel-Air Fine Art was displaying the sculpture as part of its booth at Art Wynwood in Miami.
Bel-Air Fine Art was displaying the sculpture as part of its booth at Art Wynwood in Miami. Credit: Bel-Air Fine Art Contemporary Art Galleries
"The collector never intended to break the sculpture, in fact she never touched it with her hands," he said. "It was the opening cocktail, lots of people were on our booth, she gave unintentionally a little kick in the pedestal, which was enough to cause the sculpture to fall down."
"This kind of thing unfortunately happens, that is why the artwork was covered by insurance," he said.
The gallery shared photos of the sculpture reduced to scraps of ceramic lying on the floor. The pieces are currently waiting in a box to be evaluated by an insurance expert, according to the gallery. Bel-Air Fine Arts added that some collectors have offered to purchase the broken pieces.