A Controversial Tulip Bouquet in Paris

BlogTulips

Mar 4

By Heather Bolen

Photo by author. ©Travel & Culture Salon

Bouquet of Tulips is a sculptural work by American pop artist, Jeff Koons, installed in the garden of the Petit Palais in Paris in 2019.

Koons, best known for his balloon pieces, created the sculpture at the request of the U.S. Ambassador to France to honor the 130 victims of the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. Indeed, the bouquet of tulips looks as though it is also fashioned from balloons.

However, the project was met with considerable criticism as soon as it was unveiled. Some condemned it for being tasteless, while others questioned the artist’s motives, calling out what they saw as an “opportunistic and cynical project, given the artist’s intent to install the sculpture between two prized contemporary arts institutions entirely unrelated to the tragedies.”

“Jeff Koons is the Wonder Bread of contemporary American art. A project like this calls for, at the very least, the baguette of contemporary American art — preferably its croissant or pain au chocolat.”

— Hyperallergic

Still, others questioned the symbolism of the piece, noting that a “pallid, disembodied hand” holding balloon-like flowers seems like a strange way to pay respect to the victims of a terrorist attack. The sculpture features 11 flowers, not a dozen, and the missing 12th tulip is intended to represent the victims. But critics point out tulips don’t even come in bunches of twelve. Tulips are not eggs.

Although Parisians were pressured to be more gracious in their acceptance of this “gift,” perhaps the project’s biggest flaw is that it was decided between only three people — the ambassador of the United States, Anne Hidalgo (mayor of Paris), and the artist himself.

And without even the approval of the victims’ associations.

It was felt that a project like this should be subject to some kind of public review process and let the public vouch for the artist.

Some are left to wonder whether this public artwork will join a long list of “formerly condemned, now cherished public artworks.”

Eighty percent of the proceeds it makes via copyright royalties go to the victims’ families.