Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • Contact Us
  • Podcast
  • Newsletter
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • AMMpro

Koons’ Bouquet of Tulips Wilts for Parisian Art Elite

January 22, 2018 by Marion Maneker

The gift that Jeff Koons wants to donate to Paris is provoking a backlash towards the artist. At issue is the fact that the work, meant to commemorate recent terror attacks and evoke the Statue of Liberty required both fundraising and municipal expenditures. There’s also a number of questions about its location.

Today, Liberation published a letter signed by two dozen leading French intellectual figures rejecting the gift. In it, we can see the danger of Jeff Koons losing his credibility as an international artist as the group declared the work more “product placement” than art:

“A brilliant and inventive creator in the 1980s, Jeff Koons has since become the emblem of industrial art which is spectacular and speculative,” the letter states.

Here are a list of the signatories which include some prominent artists, gallerists and collectors:

Signatories: Olivier Assayas, filmmaker; Marie-Claude Beaud,Director of the New National Museum of Monaco; Marie-Laure Bernadac, Honorary General Curator; Christian Bernard, director of the Spring of September; Christian Boltanski, artist; Nicolas Bourriaud, director of Montpellier Contemporain; Emilie Cariou,MP (LREM) Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee; Stéphane Corréard, director of the Galeristes salon; Matali Crasset, industrial designer; Alexia Fabre, chief curator of Mac / Val; Estelle Francès,founder of the Fondation Francès; Alexandre Gady,president of sites and monuments; Antoine de Galbert , collector, founder of the Maison rouge; Catherine Grenier, Director of the Alberto-et-Annette-Giacometti Foundation; Marie-Laure Jousset,Honorary Chief Curator; Marin Karmitz, collector; Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost , designer; Claire Le Restif, director of the contemporary art center Le Crédac; Gabrielle Maubrie, gallerist, founder of the association Galleries mode d’emploi; Frédéric Mitterrand, former Minister of Culture; Jean-Luc Moulène, artist;Tania Mouraud,artist; Pierre Oudart, director of the Marseille-Méditerranée College of Art and Design; Dominique Perrault, architect.

French resistance rises to ‘tulip’ gift from Jeff Koons (YahooNews)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • A French Court Fines Jeff Koons €44k for Copying NakedA French Court Fines Jeff Koons €44k for Copying Naked
  • When Will the Koons Retrospective Land in LA?When Will the Koons Retrospective Land in LA?
  • Koons Loans Old Master Works to Parisian Art FairKoons Loans Old Master Works to Parisian Art Fair
  • Koons Is King of LA, MoCA Fundraiser ReinforcesKoons Is King of LA, MoCA Fundraiser Reinforces
  • The Real Issue Behind the Koons Balloon Dog Cease-and-Desist LetterThe Real Issue Behind the Koons Balloon Dog Cease-and-Desist Letter
  • Cataloguing KoonsCataloguing Koons
  • Print
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Artists, General Tagged With: Jeff Koons

Advertise on Art Market Monitor with Nectar Ads

Top Posts

  • The New York Times Still Doesn't Get Art & Money Laundering
  • Why I Am Leaving Gagosian
  • Bonhams Brings Second Generation of Modern Vietnamese Art in Hong Kong
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • David Hockney's $20m Pacific Coast Highway & Santa Monica
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Sotheby's Brings $30m Pollock to New York
  • How Park West Sold $93m in Peter Max Paintings
  • Christie's Announces $70m Picasso Self Portrait
  • Newsletter


  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • Art Loans
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Advertise on Art Market Monitor