Jeff and Justine Koons at the Tribeca Ball (Patrick McMullan)

At Monday’s New York Academy of Art Tribeca Ball, showcasing the work of Academy students over the five floors of the Academy, many guests fought the heat and roamed from fifth-floor bar to basement bar and back again--but not Jeff Koons. The artist led his wife as they looked intently at student pieces. “I’ve been looking,” Mr. Koons told The Observer, “and I’m coming back to buy something. These are wonderful works--and very accomplished. There’s art here--it’s wonderful to see young people focusing on their craft.”

Speaking of young people focusing on their craft, we asked Mr. Koons about the subject of the day--the previous night’s premiere of Girls on HBO. The series had been written, directed, and created by the 25-year-old Lena Dunham, daughter of Mr. Koons’s fellow downtown artists Laurie Simmons and Carroll Dunham. “What is that?” asked Mr. Koons. “It’s a program on television?”

We explained the series’s provenance, and that of its young creator.

“Well, Tip and Dunham are wonderful,” he told us. “I’ve known them for years. And I’ve met their daughter before. Wonderful. My wife probably knows about it. I’ll look for the program.”

We await his recap.