Fearless Girl changes Bull’s message

Re Artists don’t get to dictate how society should perceive their public art,

Whyte, April 13 Murray Whyte appears to have considerable difficulty accepting what are often referred to as an author’s “moral rights” in an artistic work. As confirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in Snow vs. Eaton Centre, mere acquisition of a work of art does not itself convey a right to bastardize the work as viewed from the perspective of the artist. U.S. copyright law is similar.

Arturo Di Modica spent two years crafting his Charging Bull in bronze. He placed it near the New York Stock Exchange, where he expected it would convey a message regarding the resilience of the American people.

Placing Fearless Girl in her defiant stance before the raging bull radically alters the artist’s intended message. In that scenario, the bull arguably symbolizes the oppression of women and the defiant posture of the girl suggests that women have the wherewithal to rise above any oppression. But that is certainly not what Di Modica intended.

Just how restrictive are the artist’s moral rights? The women’s movement is completely free to engage an artist to create any artistic work that symbolizes the resilience of women and commemorates International Women’s Day. They have tabula rasa and are limited only by imagination. Mirek A. Waraksa, Toronto With all due respect to Murray Whyte, I feel the artist who created New York’s Charging Bull is absolutely correct in his stance regarding the artistic integrity of his work.

Granted, Fearless Girl is a wonderful addition to Arturo Di Modica’s work, but it is an addition. Fearless Girl was created specifically to be part of the Bull tableaux and, hence, must be considered an alteration of the original work.

What if another artist came up with their own, equally valid addition to Fearless Girl?

I think the artist would be outraged — as would most of the people who sympathize with the statue’s progressive message.

You can’t have it both ways. Either keep the integrity of the original work or allow any change, by anyone, to convey any message the current political climate encourages. Paul Graham, Mississauga