The iconic statue of the Wall Street bull, symbol and tourist attraction of the New York financial area, has been orphaned after the death of its author, the Italian sculptor Arturo di Modica, at the age of 80. The story of this figure reaches epic overtones, with its symbolic origin, its provocative character and its illegal (and cinematographic) installation.
Di Modica, a Sicilian artist who arrived in the Big Apple in 1973 and spent four decades of his life there, had battled cancer for several years and died yesterday Friday at his home in the town of Vittoria (Italy), according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
His most famous work was the Charging Bull, an imposing three-and-a-half-ton bronze bull that has been part of the international image of New York since 1989, when it was placed without permission on Wall Street and became a place of pilgrimage for visitors.
It occurred to me to sculpt a bull, the image of the growing stock market: it had to be a joke, a provocation. But instead it turned into something very serious
In a recent interview published this weekend by La Reppublica, Di Modica himself explained that he created the sculpture -which cost him $350,000- after the stock market crash of 1987, seeing the suffering of the people and thinking what he could do for which he already considered his city.
“It occurred to me to sculpt a bull, the image of the growing stock market: it had to be a joke, a provocation. But instead it became something very serious. They told me that, after the Statue of Liberty, the Charging Bowling Green’s Bull, two steps from the temple of world finance, is the most visited monument in New York,” he explained.
He also recalled the movie-worthy maneuver to illegally offload a “beast” of such caliber onto the street, in a “five-minute” operation while the Wall Street police patrol was absent, employing a team of 40 colleagues, a truck and a crane.
Di Modica, the sculptor of the Wall Street bull. Image: EFE
The director of the New York Stock Exchange had the statue removed, but the sculptor paid a fine to get it back and the next night placed it at a spot in Manhattan’s financial district called Bowling Green, the current spot where it has been for 32 years. .
Di Modica collided in 2017 with the new sculptural protagonist of the area, the “Girl without fear” by the Uruguayan-American sculptor Kristen Visbal, who was installed to celebrate Women’s Day and after her complaint was moved in front of the building of the Bag.
“The message (of the bull) is for freedom in the world, peace, strength, power and love. This is something negative, now the girl is right in front saying, now I’m here, what are you going to do?” ?”, then affirmed the sculptor.
Also, in recent years the New York City Council had tried to move the bull for security reasons but was not successful either, among other things because of the opposition of its author, who stated that his work cannot be used for commercial purposes without his permission. consent.
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