creative forces

Blog # 98…October, 2019.

1886

In 1886, the Statue of Liberty, designed by Frederic Bartholdi, was presented as a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States. Without Twitter we can only guess at the bulk of controversy on both sides of the ocean, but this is from a black newspaper of the day in Cleveland “Liberty indeed! Shove the Bartholdi statue, torch and all, into the ocean until…an inoffensive and industrious colored man can earn a respectable living without being ku kluxed, perhaps murdered.”

But there was some enthusiasm amongst the public and, as well as the big donors, groups of school children and drinkers in saloons sent pennies in response to fund raisers.

It took 133 years but the gift has been reciprocated and last week Jeff Koons’ large work, dedicated to friendship between the US and France and  honouring the victims of terrorism, was placed in the gardens of the Petit-Palais. Friendship seems to have resumed after the thing about what to call fried potatoes.

2019

The outstretched hand holding eleven tulips evokes the welcoming hand of the Statue of Liberty and Koons thinks of it as a symbol of remembrance, optimism and healing. A three year saga of quarreling among French cultural figures about the location and significance of the monument included questioning Koons’ motives in creating it, regarding it as self serving.  He donated the concept but the cost of execution rested with French and American donors.  I don't know about you, but I've had gifts I didn't really want that ended up costing me money and I wasn't sure where to put them.

Many buildings and pieces of public art, especially if they're a bit unusual, have a rocky beginning before people get used to them. Toronto’s City Hall, a shockingly  innovative piece of architecture for its time, was the source of many rude comments in the early 60’s.   It now fits seamlessly into downtown and is a well-loved icon of the City. 
An assortment of Parisians have expressed their outrage at The Tulips feeling that it’s “American kitsch”. It'll be interesting to watch international response as time passes and see whether it becomes accepted, welcomed, maybe even loved.
Stay tuned.