Don’t mess with art. That’s the lesson one Fox news station is learning after being called out for censoring the breasts on Pablo Picasso’s The Women of Algiers (Version O) in its Monday newscast about the piece of art selling for a record-breaking $179 million in New York.
Jerry Saltz, the senior art critic for New York Magazine, called the censorship by New York station Fox 5 WNYW, “sexually sick.”
How sexually sick are conservatives & Fox News? They blurred parts of the Picasso painting. #SickMinds pic.twitter.com/5PGw5h5iBs
— Jerry Saltz (@jerrysaltz) May 13, 2015
While the news station probably blurred out the breasts because they deemed them inappropriate for television, it’s understandable why Saltz would be frustrated with the situation. Altering Picasso’s work not only misrepresents and defiles the piece of art, but it also perpetuates the surveillance of the female body.
The report should have been about Picasso’s The Women of Algiers breaking records for how much it was sold for. Instead, it inadvertently brought attention to the station’s staff.
Others have also taken to Twitter to voice their outrage over the news station’s bad decision.
Glad I didn’t pay $179 million for a Picasso painting that was “retouched” by a Fox News employee. What a ripoff! ;) pic.twitter.com/pe7GU9Rmlh
— Alberti’s Window (@albertis_window) May 12, 2015
https://twitter.com/arunadsouza/status/597954104284053504
Looks like they could’ve avoided all this dissatisfaction had they just let the nip slip pass.
H/T The Sydney Morning Herald | Photo via arunadsouza/Twitter
