May 25, 2006 | Funny Bits

Botero butt offends some

The owner of an art gallery in Fernandina Beach, Fla. is sueing the city because it won't let him hang a print of a nude woman on the side of his building, ostensibly because it violates municipal signage regulations.

"They're interfering with my 1st Amendment rights, [and] my 14th Amendment rights by not letting me do my art, show my art, to sell my art," claims Sid Sax, owner of  Sax North Third Street, a downtown art gallery, after filing a  lawsuit asking a U.S. District Court Judge to declare the city's sign ordinance unconstitutional.

When another business owner complained that the print of  the back side of a voluptuous nude woman  gazing into a bathroom mirror was offensive, the city asked Sax to remove it from the side of the building. 

"Il Bagno" ("The Bath") is a painting by the famous Colombian artist Fernando Botero.



Sax says he has placed paintings and prints on the side of his building for ten years and has never had a complaint. He plans to continue to hang the print on the side of his building until a judge makes a ruling.

As they say, it's not over until the fat lady sings.

• Lawsuit filed over nude painting [First Coast News]