A prominent Moscow art gallery has been slapped with a fine for its “obscene” advertising of an exhibition by the famously eccentric Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch.
The Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has handed the Artplay modern art gallery in central Moscow a fine of 100,000 rubles ($1,570) for violating advertising rules, the agency said Monday in an online statement.
In March, Moscow's City Hall removed posters advertising Artplay's “Bosch. Revived Visions” featuring scenes from Bosch's triptych “The Garden of Earthly Delights.”
The move followed a reported complaint by a “citizen” who had been offended by the posters, one of which depicted a scene with a flower coming out of a naked behind.
Artplay PR director Natalya Rubina told Govorit Moskva radio at the time that 10 of the 50 posters advertising the exhibit had been removed.
“The Department [for Media and Advertising] advised us to consult a lawyer, and we were told that the advertisements are unethical,” she said. “One of the characters depicted has flowers in a certain place.”
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