New York City, N.Y., Oct 1, 2010 / 22:08 pm
Catholic League president Bill Donohue has criticized the New York auction house Sotheby’s for including an artwork of a crucified frog in its latest exhibit. Pope Benedict XVI previously wrote that the work “injured” religious feeling and an Italian official went on a hunger strike to protest its display in a regional museum.
The auction house is hosting an exhibition titled “Divine Comedy” containing about 80 works related to Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece. The exhibit includes artist George Condo’s “The Priest,” a 2010 depiction of a deformed animal’s face resting upon the torso of a priest. Another work is Salvador Dali’s 1962 “The Vision of Hell,” which shows pitchforks and a portrait of the Virgin Mary.
The Catholic League reports that one prominently displayed piece is Martin Kippenberger’s “Zuerst die Fuesse (Feet First). The decades-old work substitutes a crucified frog for Jesus on the Cross. The animal is holding a mug of beer and an egg.
Donohue described Condo’s work as “amateurish” and Dali’s as “representative of his usual edginess.”