Controversial Nude Statues: Purpose vs. Public Outrage

Twelve nude or partly nude public sculptures, from an 1822 London monument to a 2024 Las Vegas stunt, each with documented descriptions such as ugly, obscene, grotesque, indecent, or offensive. In almost every case the shock was either the artist's explicit point — political humiliation, feminist reversal, a jab at inequality — or a collision between symbolic intent and a public setting. Newest first; the two best-documented political sculptures lead.

green text — what the artist or patron intended rust text — what critics and the public said each square — one corroborating page found in the scan

why it was built

sculpture · timeline, newest first

why people objected

Part of a tour meant to hit swing states as a political stunt.

2024

Crooked and Obscene

Las Vegas, United States

Ginger (Joshua Monroe)

4 pages

political

Obscene appearance; a massive foam and rebar beast dangling from a crane. ffcampaignforchildren.org

purpose not recorded in the sources found

2018

Big Mermaid

Dragør, Denmark

Benthe Norheim

1 page

Called ugly and pornographic. michaelbooth.substack.com

Political critique and humiliation of the candidate.

2016

The Emperor Has No Balls

New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Seattle

Joshua "Ginger" Monroe

2 pages

political

Nudity and grotesque anatomical details — varicose veins, saggy butt, a lack of testicles — designed to humiliate and critique the candidate. ffcampaignforchildren.org

To portray women feeling safe and empowered and catalyze social change by challenging bystanders to see past the sexual charge surrounding the female body.

2015

R-EVOLUTION

San Francisco, United States

Marco Cochrane

1 page

Critics and internet users objected to its modernism, location, nudity, and appearance — dumb, ugly, disrespectful — questioning what a giant naked woman represents. sfchronicle.com

To bring attention to sexual assault, the fear of many women, and the strength women feel when not afraid — a message about women's safety.

2013

Truth is Beauty

San Leandro, United States

Marco Cochrane

1 page

Critics and parents objected to its complete nudity in a public space where children could see it. ocregister.com

To invert the Greek myth of Medusa's beheading and imagine a reversal of the dynamic where Medusa is victorious.

2008

Medusa With the Head of Perseus

New York, United States

Luciano Garbati

1 page

Critics questioned the feminist value of a male artist's likeness of a naked, conventionally beautiful woman in a prominent location; others argued it was simplistic or objectifying. smithsonianmag.com

Adorn a courtyard fountain as a memorial to his own late wife, a member of Boston's famous Appleton family.

1896

Bacchante and Infant Faun

Boston, United States

Frederick MacMonnies

1 page

Vocal public opposition, leading to its removal from the library's courtyard six months after installation. juglaris.org

A high-relief group for the façade of the Paris Opera.

1865–9

The Dance

Paris, France

creator unresolved

1 page

Critics disapproved of the non-idealized bodies of the dancers and the choice of a sexualized, "indecent" subject for an architectural sculpture; a vandal threw a bottle of ink at it. arthistoryteachingresources.org

A life-sized, drowned nude mother cradling her dead infant.

1851

Shipwrecked Mother and Child

Boston, United States

Edward Augustus Brackett

1 page

A Boston correspondent for the New York Times complained the figure seemed too elaborately bare where drapery might have been judiciously used, and the breasts too round and well-shaped to be in harmony with the idea of such a catastrophe. juglaris.org

A memorial to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and a symbol of national regeneration, civic masculinity, and the citizen-soldier ideal after the Napoleonic Wars.

1822

Wellington Monument

London, United Kingdom

creator unresolved

1 page

The public and passers-by ridiculed the nude male body and the fig leaves covering Wellington's front and rear. castinstone.exeter.ac.uk

It depicts a girl, resting on one knee, holding behind her a robe or veil.

date not recorded

Dancing Figure

New York, United States

William Zorach

1 page

Considered a bit too modern and not in accord with the atmosphere of dignity and quiet beauty desired in the music hall. nytimes.com

Depicts an emaciated African man bearing an obese, naked Danish woman on his shoulders — a criticism of inequality.

date not recorded

Survival of the Fattest

Ringkøbing, Denmark

Jens Galschiøt

1 page

Described as visually challenging. michaelbooth.substack.com

What the timeline cannot say alone

The two political sculptures — Crooked and Obscene (2024, 4 corroborating pages) and The Emperor Has No Balls (2016, 2 pages) — are the best-documented of the twelve, and both came from the same sculptor, Joshua "Ginger" Monroe, with humiliation as the stated point. ffcampaignforchildren.org

Marco Cochrane accounts for two entries built as messages about women's safety and empowerment — R-EVOLUTION and Truth is Beauty — yet both drew objections about nudity, location, and appearance. sfchronicle.com · ocregister.com

Denmark supplies two of the twelve — Big Mermaid in Dragør and Survival of the Fattest in Ringkøbing — one attacked as ugly and pornographic, the other deliberately confrontational about global inequality. michaelbooth.substack.com

The pattern spans two centuries: the 1822 Wellington Monument was already being ridiculed for its nude body and fig leaves, and the objections since have been directed at the setting, the symbolism, or the target — rarely at the craft itself. castinstone.exeter.ac.uk

The full shortlist

Sculpture	Creator	Date	Location	Pages	Source
Crooked and Obscene	Ginger (Joshua Monroe)	2024	Las Vegas, United States	4	ffcampaignforchildren.org
Big Mermaid	Benthe Norheim	2018	Dragør, Denmark	1	michaelbooth.substack.com
The Emperor Has No Balls	Joshua "Ginger" Monroe	2016	New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Seattle	2	ffcampaignforchildren.org
R-EVOLUTION	Marco Cochrane	2015	San Francisco, United States	1	sfchronicle.com
Truth is Beauty	Marco Cochrane	2013	San Leandro, United States	1	ocregister.com
Medusa With the Head of Perseus	Luciano Garbati	2008	New York, United States	1	smithsonianmag.com
Bacchante and Infant Faun	Frederick MacMonnies	1896	Boston, United States	1	juglaris.org
The Dance	—	1865–9	Paris, France	1	arthistoryteachingresources.org
Shipwrecked Mother and Child	Edward Augustus Brackett	1851	Boston, United States	1	juglaris.org
Wellington Monument	—	1822	London, United Kingdom	1	castinstone.exeter.ac.uk
Dancing Figure	William Zorach	—	New York, United States	1	nytimes.com
Survival of the Fattest	Jens Galschiøt	—	Ringkøbing, Denmark	1	michaelbooth.substack.com

Method: a curated shortlist of 12 nude or partly nude public sculptures, one row per sculpture, drawn from a scan of live web results as of 2026-08-28. Selection is based on documented descriptions of controversy (ugly, obscene, grotesque, indecent, disturbing, offensive) — not a universal aesthetic verdict, and critics' words are reported here as reactions, not endorsed as fact. "Pages" counts corroborating web pages found for each row. Dates such as 1865–9 are creation ranges, not exact unveiling years. Blanks are preserved where a creator, date, or purpose was not resolved; no explicit statue imagery is shown — figures are abstract silhouettes. Full objection texts are shown in the timeline and omitted from the table for space.