Bouquet of Tulips, a 10-meter-tall work of stainless steel and aluminium weighing 27 tons, was inaugurated Friday 4 October by the artist Jeff Koons in the presence of mayor Anne Hidalgo and representatives of the sponsors who funded the project. The “king of kitsch” had given the bouquet to France in tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks of 2015-2016, as a symbol of Franco-American friendship.
The giant bouquet was, according to the wishes of the artist, to be placed in front of the Palais de Tokyo, near the Place du Trocadero. Faced with a violent controversy denouncing the project, with people quick to point out Koons’ ‘opportunism’, the relative lack of a commemorative aspect within the work, and its proposed installation in front of a contemporary art museum, a more discreet location was chosen. It is therefore in the gardens of the Petit Palais, not far from the American embassy, that the bouquet will rest.
"The Bouquet of Tulips sculpture was created as a memorial, a symbol of optimism and healing," said Koons at the ceremony. The work depicts a giant hand holding a bouquet of eleven tulips, one short of the usual dozen. "The twelfth represents the loss of the attacks," said the artist in his speech. The sculpture is a reference to the hand of the Statue of Liberty brandishing her torch, and to the 1958 lithograph Bouquet of Friendship by Pablo Picasso.
Jane Hartley, the former ambassador of the United States in France, was at the origin of the project. After the attacks she asked Koons to design a gift, a request that, over time, proved more problematic than expected. "I wanted to make this support visible," she said, and, "a gift, it is accepted," added Anne Hidalgo at the ceremony. Despite three years of controversy, the mayor said she did not want Paris to miss the opportunity to have this gift from Jeff Koons and from the United States.
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Known for his relationships with luxury brands, Koons had been accused of participating in excessive commodification of contemporary art, and the bouquet has been described as an "opportunistic and cynical" gift. Not to mention the €3.5 million (£3.16 mil) cost of production from the pockets of 16 French and American patrons, including Weber Investments, Kenneth C. Griffin, and Accor. The artist claimed to have paid another million euros himself to complete the project, whose costs had escalated beyond original estimates.
"I was surprised by the inaccuracy of some critics. Then rereading the history of France helped me to understand and to realise that this situation had already occurred with other artists in the past. But I was so happy to give a gift to the French people that it allowed me to not pay attention to the controversy," said Koons in an interview for Paris Match.
After the sculpture was unveiled, the artist greeted the families of the victims who were present. The work will be managed by the city of Paris, and 80% of the revenue generated by various derivatives will be donated to associations supporting the families of the victims, while the remaining 20% will be used for the maintenance of the artwork.
