Tulips

The work belongs to the series Koons calls Celebration, which began in nineteen ninety four and includes balloon dogs, hanging hearts and a diamond ring, all inspired by party decorations and children's birthdays. Each piece took years to make. The steel was hand polished to remove every trace of the seams, then coated with a transparent colour layer so that the metal glows through it like a hard sweet. Look at the reflections: the chromium mirror is so perfect that the sculpture almost vanishes into its surroundings, and the colours read as pure light.

Tulips was finished in two thousand and four and the museum acquired it for the terrace, where it plays off the titanium walls in a way Koons must have enjoyed. Critics have long argued about whether Koons is celebrating popular taste or mocking it, and he has always insisted there is no irony at all, that he simply wants people to feel accepted and happy in front of art. Standing in front of these flowers on a sunny afternoon, with children running around them and the river sparkling, it is hard to feel anything else.

Did You Know? The Celebration series nearly bankrupted Koons in the late nineties, because the fabrication was so demanding that pieces took years longer than his dealers had promised buyers.