Puppy is Jeff Koons' giant West Highland terrier made of living flowers, sitting in front of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao since the museum opened in 1997. It stands 12.4 metres tall, and its steel body carries around 38,000 plants that are replaced twice a year, so the dog changes its coat with the seasons. It began as a temporary piece in Germany and has become one of the best-known images of Bilbao.
Puppy at a glance
- Where: on the city side of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, next to the main entrance, above the Nervión riverfront.
- Created: first version in 1992 at Arolsen Castle in Germany; the present steel version was shown in Sydney in 1995–1996 and installed in Bilbao in 1997.
- By: Jeff Koons, the American artist also known for his Balloon Dog sculptures.
- What it is today: a permanent work in the Guggenheim's collection, which you can see from the street without entering the museum.
- Time needed: 10 to 15 minutes, longer if you walk round the museum's other outdoor works.
From a German castle to the Bilbao riverside
In 1992 Koons was not selected for documenta 9, the big art show in Kassel, so he built the first Puppy in front of the Baroque castle at Bad Arolsen, not far away. It was covered with some 17,000 flowers and drew crowds all summer. Koons then made a permanent version on a steel frame, a metre taller, which stood outside the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in Sydney from December 1995 to March 1996. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation bought it, and in 1997 it was shipped to Spain for the opening of the new museum.
The arrival had a dark side. On 13 October 1997, five days before the museum's inauguration, members of the armed group ETA posing as gardeners parked a van next to the sculpture, claiming to deliver plants; the flower pots held explosives. When Basque police officer José María Aguirre checked the van, he was shot dead. The attack was stopped, and the dog has guarded the entrance ever since, apart from a summer at New York's Rockefeller Center in 2000.
What to look for
- The flowers: around 38,000 plants, usually begonias, petunias, marigolds and busy lizzies. They are replanted twice a year, so the colours you see depend on when you visit.
- The scale: at 12.4 metres, Puppy is taller than a four-storey house. Look at the people standing at its paws to see just how big it is.
- The hidden machinery: inside the steel frame are tonnes of soil and an internal irrigation system that waters the plants. It was renewed in 2021 and now uses moisture sensors.
- The contrast with the building: step back across the plaza to fit the soft, round dog and Frank Gehry's curving titanium walls into one picture.
- The idea behind it: Koons has said Puppy was inspired by Europe's Baroque cathedrals and their balance between the eternal and the ephemeral. The steel dog stays, while its flowers live and die.
Puppy's changing coats
Because it is alive, Puppy can be dressed for the moment. In December 2020, during the pandemic, it wore a face mask of blue and white flowers, an idea suggested by a local doctor and approved by Koons. In 2021, after more than twenty years outdoors, the museum asked the public for donations to repair the frame and the watering system, and a local rapper even released a song to help raise the money. For the museum's 25th anniversary in 2022, the dog got a mostly white coat of flowers.
Tips for your visit
- Come early in the morning for photos without crowds; later in the day the plaza fills up quickly.
- Puppy is a living plant sculpture, so look but do not climb on it or pick the flowers.
- For the best overview, walk up the steps on the city side and look down on the dog with the museum behind it.
- Combine it with a walk along the river behind the museum, past Maman and under the La Salve bridge, then on towards the Zubizuri footbridge.
Nearby
- Guggenheim Museum Bilbao: Frank Gehry's titanium-clad museum, opened in 1997. Behind it, Anish Kapoor's Tall Tree and the Eye rises from the pond, and Koons' Tulips stand on a terrace.
- Maman: Louise Bourgeois' giant bronze spider, over nine metres tall, on the riverside walk behind the museum.
- La Salve bridge: the road bridge next to the museum, crowned since 2007 with Daniel Buren's red arches.
- Zubizuri: Santiago Calatrava's curved white footbridge over the Nervión, a pleasant walk upriver along the waterfront.
See Bilbao with World City Trail
Our Bilbao scavenger hunt turns the city into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 3 hours, with about 52 minutes of walking, and includes the Guggenheim Museum, Doña Casilda Iturrizar Park and the Zubizuri bridge. You can play in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish or Dutch.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Bilbao.
Play the Bilbao scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Bilbao →
Play the outdoor escape game in Bilbao →
Facts checked in October 2026.