Puppy, Steel and flower sculpture at Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain
Puppy is a sculpture outside the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, made from a stainless steel frame covered with living flowering plants. The figure represents a West Highland White Terrier and stands roughly 12 meters tall above the museum courtyard.
Jeff Koons completed the work originally in 1992 for a temporary exhibition in Germany. The city of Bilbao acquired the figure afterwards and placed it permanently in front of the new museum building.
The name recalls a young pet and gives the work a friendly character that appeals equally to children and adults. The chosen plant species varies by season and creates changing color accents across the surface of the dog.
You can view the figure freely from the square in front of the museum entrance without needing a museum ticket. The best view is from the wide forecourt, where you can survey the whole work.
An internal irrigation system supplies roughly 38,000 individual plants with water and nutrients through hidden pipes within the metal frame. Gardeners replace the planting twice a year to adjust the colors to the seasons.
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