Art

Jeff Koons Offers a Sculpture to the City of Paris

As a tribute to the victims of the 2015 attacks, American sculptor Jeff Koons offered one of his sculptures to the city of Paris.
© Jeff Koons

Named Bouquet of Tulips, the twelve-meter-high bronze structure represents a hand outstretched towards the sky, inspired by that of the Statue of Liberty, brandishing a bouquet of multicolored tulips. Blue, red, orange, pink, the brightly colored flowers evoke the artist’s famous Balloon Dogs.

The United States Ambassador to France, Jane D. Hartley, is at the origin of the project. Last January, she approached the American artist with the idea of a symbolic gift to mark solidarity between the two countries in the aftermath of the attacks. “I know how much [Jeff Koons] loves France,” she explained. “And he’s the most famous living American artist.”

Ten years after Balloon Flower (Red), exhibited in 2007 on the esplanade where the towers of the World Trade Center stood in New York City, Bouquet of Tulips will be permanently installed on the square in front of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 2017.” I hope this work will change people’s lives,” commented Jeff Koons in The New York Times. “I hope that Bouquet of Tulips can convey a message of optimism and communicate a joy of giving.”