Teeny weeny peeny stirs big fuss

Staff writer Tom Laskin reports on the controversy over whether the Madison Art Center should pursue acclaimed Colombian artist Fernando Botero's "The Roman Soldier" for its permanent collection. The satirical sculpture of an exaggerated nude gladiator with diminutive genitalia stood for years at General Casualty, on Madison's east side. The article notes that The Capital Times ran arts writer Kevin Lynch's "derisive commentary on the statue" illustrated with an explicit photograph, while the Wisconsin State Journal's coverage used "an oddly demure photograph" of the statue's back. WSJ editor Frank Denton says this was done to avoid offending "a significant portion of our readers," adding, "It has a penis hanging out of it." Madison Art Center director David Berreth says he's worried about the statue's 14-foot-tall, two-ton bulk, rather than its nakedness. Madison sustains a tizzy until the statue is sold to an unidentified buyer. The work (albeit perhaps another casting) has recently stood in a sculpture garden in Yerevan, Armenia, where, according to one newspaper account, it "has quickly become a favorite for naughty young girls to stand beside" and have a picture taken.