I Like the Mermaid Statue

Me, too. Thought the article was about taking the little mermaid that been there for a long time. You don't get rid of a famous tourist attraction that selling millions in souvenirs. There's nude and then there's gross- the big mermaid falls into the gross class.
 

I'm in the "art is in the eye of the beholder" camp. I don't happen to like modern art, for example; I'm not a fan of Picasso or Warhol or Rauschenberg et. al. But if someone else is, that's fine with me. I don't have to admire them or buy them.

It's a statue - a piece of concrete. It's certainly more realistic than Giacometti.

Who, btw, did this statue...which is certainly of the same proportions as the mermaid in the article:
Femme by Giacometti.jpg

I don't care for Giacometti, but his fans are not shy about what they will pay for an original of the statue above:
  • Prices for Femme debout sculptures can range from millions to tens of millions of dollars. For example:
    • A Femme debout (Standing Woman) sold for $7.445 million in 2015.
    • Another Femme debout sculpture sold for £651,700 (approximately $770,000 USD at current exchange rates) in a Phillips auction.
 
One article I read said it was being removed because it didn't fit the image of the fort. A man who was calling for its removal on those grounds added the comment that he felt it was pornographic. Its not like there had been a public outcry against it being obscene.

It sounds like the press made more of the obscenity of it because that makes for a better story.

There are topless statues all over the world and its not like people are really that shocked anymore by it.

Its supposed to be very large. I would like to see a person standing next to it to get an idea of how large it is.

They should've made it like another Statue of Liberty kind of thing.

Then people could climb stairs to the breasts and the nipples could have been a porthole to look out of. Now that's a tourist trap that could make you millions.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Me, too. Thought the article was about taking the little mermaid that been there for a long time. You don't get rid of a famous tourist attraction that selling millions in souvenirs. There's nude and then there's gross- the big mermaid falls into the gross class.
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If you look at this as 'gross', what do you think of the Botero statue in my hometown Bamberg, Germany?

sculpture-lying-fat-naked-woman-bamberg-germany-fernando-botero-bavaria-54811377.jpg
 
Trade said:
Yeah, but compared to the Mermaid, Dave wasn't quite so well endowed.
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Yeah, but there are many men in their 50s and older, including myself, who are very well endowed in their chest area.

And they even don't need being much overweight. I'm about 10 pounds overweight and have a large chest for a male.
 
George1959 said:
If you look at this as 'gross', what do you think of the Botero statue in my hometown Bamberg, Germany?

sculpture-lying-fat-naked-woman-bamberg-germany-fernando-botero-bavaria-54811377.jpg
Click to expand...
"Fernando Botero Angulo (19 April 1932 – 15 September 2023) was a Colombian figurative artist and sculptor.
His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism or humor, depending on the piece.
He was considered the most recognized and quoted artist from Latin America in his lifetime, and his art can be found in highly visible places around the world, such as Park Avenue in New York City and the Champs-Élysées in Paris, at different times."

This statue called Reclining Woman with Fruit looks better cleaned up see video.....

I like the kids climbing on his sculpture of a woman playing with a swan (?)

Fernando Botero in Bamberg​


 
Paladin1950 said:
I love it. Not the beached whale above, but the original mermaid photo. It's not pornographic, it's a work of art, with several points of interest.
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OldFeller said:
"Fernando Botero Angulo (19 April 1932 – 15 September 2023) was a Colombian figurative artist and sculptor.
His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism or humor, depending on the piece.
He was considered the most recognized and quoted artist from Latin America in his lifetime, and his art can be found in highly visible places around the world, such as Park Avenue in New York City and the Champs-Élysées in Paris, at different times."

This statue called Reclining Woman with Fruit looks better cleaned up see video.....

I like the kids climbing on his sculpture of a woman playing with a swan (?)

Fernando Botero in Bamberg​


Click to expand...
This is a video of the exhibition in 1998/1999 which had several Botero statues on display.
All of them were removed and only the "Reclining Woman with Fruit" later returned to Bamberg.

A local photograph documented them.
The text is in German only.

Botero in Bamberg – Gerhard Schlötzer
 
Amazing how a few people can influence others into believing their opinion. No mention of how many " after criticism from locals." criticised the statue.

Politiken's art critic, Mathias Kryger, branded the statue 'ugly and pornographic', while Sorine Gotfredsen, a priest and journalist, wrote in the newspaper Berlingske: 'Erecting a statue of a man's hot dream of what a woman should look like is unlikely to promote many women's acceptance of their own bodies.'

My opinion is it is well made. The skill it takes to make something like that, to me is awe inspiring.
 
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