美国国家公共电台 NPR Jeff Koons Gives France A Giant Bouquet Of Flowers, But It Comes With A Price

Jeff Koons Gives France A Giant Bouquet¹ Of Flowers, But It Comes With A Price 

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Now, the artist Jeff Koons is honoring the victims of the attacks in France last year with a giant outdoor sculpture for the city of Paris. Construction is already underway for a bronze, stainless³ steel and aluminum⁴ sculpture called Bouquet of Tulips. As NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports, Koons is donating the work, but it does have a price.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE⁵: The idea started with the American ambassador to France, Jane Hartley. Last year, after the Paris attacks, Hartley says, the embassy was inundated⁶ with cards and emails.

JANE HARTLEY: What I wanted to somehow get across was what the public was feeling and the support the public felt for France and also, really, the history of the two countries.

BLAIR: So she called Jeff Koons and asked him if he would donate a work. Koons is one of the most expensive living artists in the world. One of his stainless steel balloon dogs sold for $58 million at auction⁷. He's donating the design, but not the cost to fabricate and install the work. That will cost about 3 million euros, or $3.2 million. Benjamin Sutton, who writes for the arts website Hyperallergic, says that's not unreasonable⁸.

BENJAMIN SUTTON: In terms of pushing technology forward and pushing the limits of art fabrication and sculpture making, he's really at the forefront. And so I think part of what that 3 million euro price tag is simply the extremely high costs of making an extremely complex sculpture.

BLAIR: A French-American non-profit hopes to raise that money from private donors⁹ in both countries. This will be Jeff Koons largest outdoor sculpture yet, standing¹⁰ 34 feet high. A hand emerges from the ground, holding a fistful of brightly colored tulips. Koons is one of those love-him-or-hate-him artists, and his design has gotten some pushback from critics. Le Monde called the gift a cadeau empoisonne, meaning more a curse than a blessing¹¹. The cultural magazine Telerama questioned who really would benefit from the public sculpture - Paris or Koons? Sutton, who was born in Paris, thinks it looks like something you'd find in a suburban¹² mall.

SUTTON: I just think it's pretty gaudy¹³.

BLAIR: Jeff Koons says the hand holding a bouquet of tulips is partly a reference to the Statue of Liberty holding a torch. Liberty was a gift from France to the United States in the 19th century. The money to pay for it also came from people in both countries. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

1 bouquet   

n.花束，酒香

参考例句：

• This wine has a rich bouquet.这种葡萄酒有浓郁的香气。
• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 stainless   

adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的

参考例句：

• I have a set of stainless knives and forks.我有一套不锈钢刀叉。
• Before the recent political scandal,her reputation had been stainless.在最近的政治丑闻之前，她的名声是无懈可击的。

4 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

8 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

9 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

12 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

13 gaudy   

adj.华而不实的；俗丽的

参考例句：

• She was tricked out in gaudy dress.她穿得华丽而俗气。
• The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.浮华的蝴蝶却相信花是应该向它道谢的。