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# Jeff Koons's "Bouquet of Tulips" Vandalized
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/jeff-koonss-bouquet-of-tulips-vandalized/
- Published: 2019-11-12T19:17:32.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:46:45.000Z
- Description: | On Thursday, November 7, Paris police reported a graffiti tag sprayed in red on the sculpture's bronze plaque. The graffiti read, "11 Trous du c …," which can translate to “11 Holes of the butt …” The city of Paris, which owns the sculpture, has sent a special cleaning crew to quickly remove the t
- Author: News Update
- Tags: News, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:41 (2019, 2020, part 2)

Jeff Koons’s “Bouquet of Tulips” monument was defaced with graffiti, the French newspaper[ *Le Parisien*](http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-qui-a-tague-les-tulipes-de-jeff-koons-08-11-2019-8189511.php?ref=hyperallergic.com) reported last week. On Thursday, November 7, the Paris police reported a graffiti tag sprayed in red on the sculpture’s bronze plaque. The graffiti read, “11 *Trous du c …*,” which can translate to “11 Holes of the butt …”

The tag is a clear reference to French philosopher Yves Michaud’s famous article in the daily magazine [L’Obs](https://www.nouvelobs.com/culture/20191005.OBS19360/les-tulipes-de-koons-onze-anus-colores-montes-sur-tiges.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) in which he described Koons’s tulips as “Eleven colored anuses mounted on stems.” Michaud also coined the term “*culipes*” for the sculpture — a combination of the French words “*cul*” (buttocks) and “*tulipe*” for tulips — which quickly became a popular reference to the monument on social media.

The city of Paris, which owns the sculpture, has sent a special cleaning crew to quickly remove the tag, according to *Le Parisien*. A police investigation is ongoing. The vandal has not yet been identified.

Last week, prior to the vandalization, [Hyperallergic visited the sculpture](https://hyperallergic.com/anuses-on-stems-parisians-react-to-jeff-koonss-gift-to-the-city/) to gauge the reactions of Parisians and tourists about Koons’s gift to the city of lights. One passerby asserted: “Yeah, they do look like buttholes! It’s not crazy to think that.”

> [“Anuses on Stems”? Parisians React to Jeff Koons’s Gift to the City](https://hyperallergic.com/anuses-on-stems-parisians-react-to-jeff-koonss-gift-to-the-city/)