LACMA to Remove Popular Sculptures Due to Damage

LOS ANGELES—Two wildly popular outdoor sculptures at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art are to be removed because of wear due to the elements and overzealous visitors, reports the Los Angeles Times. Jeff Koons' shiny, colorful Tulips and Charles Ray's bright red Firetruck have both suffered physical damage and will be removed within weeks.

Koons' Tulips, made of colored stainless steel and rising to a height of seven feet, has been damaged by visitors that can't resist touching it's glossy surface. Although the fragile bouquet was scheduled to be on view for one year, the work will be shipped to Germany next week to be repaired by the factory that fabricated it. Ray's life-size Firetruck, made of painted aluminum, fiberglass, and Plexiglas, has had problems due to its exposure to the elements. The paint has cracked and puckered, and will be removed before the warmth of summer takes a greater toll on it. Both artworks were on loan by billionaire Eli Broad's art foundation.