The Sicilian sculptor Arturo Di Modica, author of the famous bronze bull symbol of Wall Street in New York, died at age 80 on the night of Friday to Saturday at his home in Vittoria near Ragusa in southern Sicily, from after the Italian media.
He "
had been fighting cancer for years and his condition had worsened in recent weeks,
" said the daily
La Repubblica
on its website.
The Sicilian sculptor is famous above all for his imposing bronze bull sculpture of 3.2 tons, 4.9 meters long and 3 meters high, installed near the New York Stock Exchange.
The sculpture, called
Charging Bull
in English ("
charging bull
"), had been sculpted by the artist and financed out of his own pocket, more than $ 350,000 at the time.
Read also: On October 19, 1987, Wall Street faced the worst Crash in its history
The bull was installed illegally in front of the New York Stock Exchange, in the wake of the 1987 stock market crash, as a symbol of "the
strength and power of the people
".
Arturo Di Modica had trucked his sculpture in December 1989 to Lower Manhattan and deposited it under a Christmas tree in front of the New York Stock Exchange, like a Christmas present for New Yorkers.
After a few weeks of true artistic guerrilla warfare, the bull had finally been accepted by the city, which had found its current location in 1989, north of Bowling Green Park at the intersection of Broadway.
"A joke, a provocation"
In a recent interview with
La Repubblica
, the sculptor had recounted the genesis of his project: “
It was a period of crisis, the New York Stock Exchange had fallen overnight by more than 20% (...) With some friends I wondered what I could do for
my
city.
Granted, I'm from Vittoria, but I've lived in New York for over 40 years.
So the idea came to me to sculpt a bull, the image of the stock market going up: it must have been a joke, a provocation.
And yet it has become something serious!
"
“
I was told that after the Statue of Liberty, the
Charging Bull, a
stone's throw from the temple of global finance, is New York's most visited monument.
He even passed the Empire State Building,
”he rejoiced.
The
Charging Bull
is one of New York City's most photographed works.
Legend has it that scratching his nose, grabbing his horns or testicles brings good luck.
