Jeff Koons artwork expected to fetch $20m

An eight-foot high simulation of a blue diamond by the American artist Jeff Koons has gone on display in New York ahead of its sale next month.

The "diamond" - actually made of polished steel and chromium - is a key item in Christie's auction of contemporary art. It is expected to fetch up to $20m. The figure is ambitious - it would quadruple overnight the current record set for a Koons work of art, a ceramic statue of Michael Jackson and his pet monkey Bubbles that went for $5.6m six years ago.



But the art market is so buoyant, flush with Russian and Far Eastern money, that even ambitious sales expectations are regularly exceeded.



Blue Diamond is part of Koons's Celebration series begun in 1994 that marks the commercialisation of birthdays, holidays, Valentine's Day and Easter.

Three other Koons "diamonds" - in red, pink and green - are in private collections; and a fifth version in yellow is under way.