Nude Picasso back to Edinburgh Airport

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

1932 painting by Pablo Picasso has been put back on display at the airport. AFP photo

Edinburgh Airport was forced on Aug. 8 to backtrack on its decision to cover a poster of a famous Picasso nude, which some passengers had deemed too risque.

 The poster hanging at the airport’s terminal, featuring the Spanish master’s curvaceous “Nude Woman In a Red Armchair,” was promoting an exhibition at the Scottish Museum of Modern Art.

 The airport covered it with white vinyl on Aug. 7 after saying it had received several complaints from passengers. But it was forced to put it back on display a day later after the move sparked a volley of online criticism and was branded “bizarre” by the gallery.

 “All kinds of images of women in various states of dress and undress can be used in contemporary advertising without comment,” said John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland.
 “But somehow a painted nude by one of the world’s most famous artists is found to be disturbing and has to be removed,” he added.

 An Edinburgh Airport spokeswoman said the initial decision to cover the poster was “a reaction to passenger feedback, which we do always take seriously.” “On reflection we are more than happy to display the image in the terminal and we’d like to apologise particularly to the exhibition organizers,” she said.