Displaying items by tag: the virgin mother

The naked lady stays.

The planning board of the Village of Old Westbury, N.Y., agreed on Monday to allow the art collector Aby Rosen to keep “The Virgin Mother,” a 33-foot-tall painted bronze sculpture of a pregnant woman with an exposed fetus, by Damien Hirst, on his property. Neighbors had objected to the graphic sculpture, which could be glimpsed from a private road leading to Mr. Rosen’s estate. The outdoor art even prompted the board to consider enacting a law to prohibit any structures — including sculptures — from rising more than 25 feet.

Representatives for Manhattan real estate mogul Aby Rosen testified last night before the Old Westbury Village planning board in an effort to gain approval for the display of a 33-foot-tall graphic statue and two other large sculptures on his historic Old Westbury estate.

Experts brought by Rosen were on hand to link the plan with the "avant-garde" history of the estate. They also promised to screen much of it from the view of neighbors.

Neighbors had complained to village officials last month after artist Damien Hirst's "The Virgin Mother" was installed on a conservation easement at the A. Conger Goodyear House, a 5.5-acre estate built in 1938 and listed in 2003 on the National Register of Historic Places.