The Italian-American sculptor Arturo Di Modica recently passed away in Sicily, Italy, but his Wall Street copper bull is still the “mascot” of the American financial market.
Di Modica was born in Sicily, Italy. Before moving to New York, USA in the 1970s, he was already a well-known Italian sculptor. On October 19, 1987, the “Black Monday” stock market crash occurred in the United States, and the U.S. stock market fell into a cold winter. Di Modica believes that it is necessary for him to create a sculpture to restore the confidence of the American people. Taking into account the stock market’s expectations for the bull market, especially the bull as a symbol of strength and courage, he decided to make a bronze bull sculpture as the perfect “antidote” to the stock market crash in 1987.
Over the next two years, Di Modica invested 360,000 U.S. dollars without the knowledge of the New York municipality to design the Wall Street copper bull that would become famous throughout the world in the Crosby Street studio in Manhattan. Founded at Brady-Mackey Art Foundry. Because the copper bull was very large, the foundry had to cast individual bronze pieces and then weld them together. At the end of 1989, the bronze bull sculpture weighing 3.2 tons, 4.9 meters long and 3.4 meters high was finally completed.
But where should I put this bronze bull sculpture? Di Modica believes that only by placing it in front of the New York Stock Exchange can it encourage New York and the world. In order to attract more attention, he decided to launch an “artistic guerrilla war” and put the copper bull in front of the New York Stock Exchange without permission.
In the middle of the night on December 14, 1989, Di Modica came to the front of the New York Stock Exchange. After careful observation, he discovered that the police patrol would conduct inspections every 5-6 minutes, so he had to lay down in a very short time. The bronze bull sculpture then ran away. In the early morning of December 15, 1989, Di Modica and a few friends used a truck to transport the copper bull to the door of the New York Stock Exchange, but they were embarrassed to find that a large Christmas tree placed on the New York Stock Exchange was blocking the way. . DiModica had an idea and decided to put the copper bull under the Christmas tree as a “Christmas gift” for New York City and the world.
After the dawn came, the bronze bull sculpture that suddenly appeared in front of the New York Stock Exchange became global news. Media reporters surrounded this mysterious sculpture, and everyone was speculating about its origin. New York freelance writer Diana Durant described: “The copper bull has its head down, its nostrils open, and its sharp horns are ready. It shows combative power and combines it with the energy, strength, and unpredictability of the stock market. The sexual connection is not far-fetched.” Of course, when people watched the comments, Di Modica did not forget to hand out a leaflet about Tong Niu. He became famous because of this “performance art”.
The bronze bull sculpture originally meant to symbolize the prosperity of the stock market. Unfortunately, the New York Stock Exchange did not accept this unsolicited gift, but instead called the police. Later that day, the bronze bull sculpture was removed and detained by the police.
Although the copper bull was temporarily placed in front of the New York Stock Exchange, the locals fell in love with the sculpture, and people asked for it to be placed again. With the help of New York Mayor Ed Koch, City Park Commissioner Henry Stern, and Arturo Piccolo of the Bowling Green Park Association, the bronze bull sculpture was finally set up in Boss, two blocks from the New York Stock Exchange. There is a home at the north end of Ring Green Park, which faces Broadway Street. On December 21, 1989, the bronze bull sculpture was officially placed in Bowling Green Park.
For decades, the Bronze Bull Sculpture on Wall Street has been popular among the people. It has indeed become one of the most popular artworks in New York, and it has become a tourist project in the financial district. “The New York Times” commented, “Its popularity is unquestionable. Tourists often pose and take pictures around it.”
The Wall Street Bull almost lost its shelter since then. In 1993, Di Modica once wanted to sell this bronze bull sculpture. Later, considering that New Yorkers had regarded it as a permanent landmark of Manhattan, he announced in 2004 that the condition for the sale of the bronze bull sculpture was that the buyer could not remove it from the original place after it was purchased, but the auction did not succeed. In November 2019, New York City officials announced that due to potential safety hazards in Bowling Green Park, they wanted to move the bronze bull sculpture to a square outside the New York Stock Exchange, but Di Modica opposed this and the relocation plan failed. Implement. The bronze bull sculpture is still in Bowling Green Park, and it welcomes millions of tourists from all over the world every year.
