Arturo Di Modica

Arturo Di Modica
Arturo Di Modica in 1990
Born	(1941-01-26) January 26, 1941 Vittoria, Sicily, Italy
Nationality	Italian and American
Notable work	Charging Bull

Arturo Di Modica (born January 26, 1941) is an Italian artist, born in Vittoria, Sicily who became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He is best known for his sculpture Charging Bull (also known as the Wall Street Bull, in reference to Wall Street), which he installed without permission in front of the New York Stock Exchange in December 1989.^{[1][2] [3]}The work cost US$350,000 of the artist's own money. The three-ton bronze piece is in its current location on loan to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.^[1][4] In 2017, Di Modica opposed the installation of the Fearless Girl sculpture across from his bull,^[4] calling it an "advertising trick" created by State Street Global and the advertising firm McCann.^[5]

Di Modica installed a second similar version of the Charging Bull, nicknamed as Bund Bull, in Shanghai in May 2010; it draws from Western and Chinese culture and looks younger and stronger.

Art Market

Di Modica worked the majority of his career completely alone from his studio. Therefore there are relatively few works in private hands despite the fame of Charging Bull. Di Modica built up a private following of collectors throughout his career who he worked with closely including billionaire and ex-majority shareholder of Christies, Joe Lewis^[6], and the Italian designer Roberto Cavalli^[7].

On 4th October 2018 the first major work came to auction by Arturo Di Modica of a 6ft polished bronze version of Charging Bull at Phillips London which was the first in an edition of 8 and marked '1987-89'^[8]. The sale of the sculpture made front page of City AM^[9] and on the day sold for £309,000 or $405,000^[10].

Early Life & Florence (1941 - 1973)

Di Modica was born 1941 in Vittoria, Sicily shortly before the Allied forces invaded during World War II. He grew up surrounded by the remains of the ancient Greek and Roman civilisations which he later recounted inspired him to dream big. His father did not want him to become an artist so at the age of 18 he ran away on a steam train destined for Florence in pursuit of his career as a sculptor^[11].

Upon his arrival in Florence, Di Modica had to take an assortment of menial jobs in order to survive. Unable to afford to use the local foundries he resorted to building his own as well as forging his own tools to work with. His early efforts culminated with his first major show at Villa Medici in 1968 which primarily features his early rough abstract bronze castings.^[12].

By the late 1960's Di Modica began working with marble in the Italian Carrara studios which is where he met Henry Moore who nicknamed him 'the young MichelAngelo'^[13]. The influence of Moore on Di Modica was very strong with a whole new style emerging shortly after this period. By 1973, Di Modica had grown frustrated with the limitations of Florence for his career and moved to New York City.^[14]

Arrival in New York (1973)

Upon arriving in New York, Di Modica quickly set up his first studio on Grande Street, Soho. Often large scale marble works could be found left deposited on the street outside of his studio. It was also here that Di Modica caught a young graffiti artist spray painting on his studio door 'Samo' aka Jean-Michel Basquiat. The two artists would later both move onto Crosby Street in the early 1980's as Basquiat experienced his rise to fame.^[15]

Rockefeller Centre Abstract Installation (1977)

In 1977 Di Modica held a major exhibition at Battery Park to which he invited the famous art critic Hilton Kramer to close the exhibition. Uninterested Kramer put the phone down on Di Modica which was the catalyst for him proceeding to load 8 monumental abstract marble works onto the back of a rental truck. He then drove to the Rockefeller Centre where he blocked off 5th Avenue and illegally dropped his works outside after which the rental truck was instructed by Di Modica to depart the scene. Quickly four NYPD officers spotted the offence and came running up with their guns unholstered. Unable to speak much English at the time, Di Modica pushed one of the officers guns aside and handed over a flyer explaining what he was doing. Eventually Mayor Abe Beame was called to the scene who wanted to meet the 'crazy bearded Sicilian' and after issuing a $25 fine, Di Modica was granted permission to temporarily leave his sculptures on exhibit. This late night stunt went on the next day to make front page news of the New York Post, acting as a valuable learning experience. ^[16]

c.1980 Di Modica purchased a plot of land with a shack on it at 54 Crosby Street. Using up all of his funds paying the downpayment, he had no money left to develop the property so had to resort to salvaging materials. He would drag 7m long salvaged beams of wood through the night to use as building materials. He was then able to purchase 8,000 bricks for $400 from a priest and with these, he began building upwards. Eventually building three storey's up. However he then wanted to build a basement but could not get planning permission from the City. So he started digging into the ground without permission, sneaking the rubble out by night and the new materials in.^[17]

Il Cavallo, Lincoln Center (1985)

During the 1970's Di Modica has primarily been focused on extremely abstract sculpture, often trying to balance two opposing materials together in single works. In the early 1980's he began focusing on the form of the horse. His first major depiction of the horse was a very abstract large scale stainless steel work which was exhibited in Trump Tower in 1984. This sculpture marked a return to a more form-based focus.

Whilst working on the Trump Tower horse, he was also working on a second monumental depiction of a horse biting its tail, almost 10.5ft in height and titled 'Il Cavallo'. The first version of Il Cavallo was finished in bronze with the majority of the work being completed from his 54 Crosby St studio. Upon completion, Di Modica on his own loaded the sculpture onto the back of a kart and attached it to his Ferrari 328GTS on Valentines Day 1985. He then drove to the Lincoln Centre with the sculpture covered in a red sheet with the message 'Be my Valentine N.Y Love AD'.

Charging Bull (1987-89)

On October 19th 1987 Black Monday struck the American financial markets and the country entered a very difficult period. Di Modica recounted that he felted indebted to the American people for welcoming him into their country which enabled his success and he wanted to give something back. It was this event which conceived Charging Bull.

Di Modica spent the next two years creating the 16ft bronze, financing all of the $350,000 expenses himself. The sculpture was created in his Crosby Street studio and then cast using a local foundry. Once complete, Di Modica spent the next few nights watching the police patrols on Wall Street trying to find a window of opportunity. After establishing exactly where he wanted to place the bull he went home to rest. On 15th Decemember 1989 Di Modica returned with a group of friends and Charging Bull on the back of a truck. However upon his arrival, during the day time a 40ft Christmas Tree had been installed exactly where he wanted to place the sculpture. With only four minutes between the police patrols he announced 'drop the bull under the tree - its my gift'.^[18]

Di Modica stayed by the bull to greet the morning commuters as they came to discover the sculpture. However whilst he was away for lunch, the New York Stock Exchange arranged for the sculpture to be collected by a local firm. The late night event went on to make news all around the world including front page of the New York Post. ^[19] Due to the public demand for the bulls return, the Parks Commissioner Henry Stern, arranged for the sculptures installation at Bowling Green on 20th December 1989 which is where it can be found to this day.

Charging Bull has gone on to become one of the world's most iconic works of art, drawing millions of visitors each year. The original idea by Di Modica was to inspire each person who came into contact with the sculpture to carry on fighting with "strength and determination" through the hard times for the ffuture. Di Modica later was quoted whilst in conversation with the famous art critic Anthony Haden Guest as saying "my point was to show people that if you want to do something in a moment things are very bad, you can do it. You can do it by yourself. My point was that you must be strong".^[20]

Controversy

Modica has said that he views the bull as a symbol of freedom and love, but to many Charging Bull has become a symbol of Wall Street greed and excess. The statue of the little girl was initially scheduled to be there for a week but was extended until the end of the year after it stoked a viral internet sensation. Modica said in April, 2017, that he would use the courts if needed to have the Fearless Girl statue removed,^[21][22] but didn't follow-up on that threat.

In popular culture

Charging Bull became part of an image macro put out by Adbusters that publicized Occupy Wall Street, featuring a ballerina posed atop it with the text "What Is Our One Demand: #OccupyWallStreet / September 17th. / Bring Tent."^[1]

References