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Sup. Antonovich Not a Big Fan of Mapplethorpe's Erotic Flowers
In a joint acquisition by the Getty Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, $30 million worth of Robert Mapplethorpe photos will soon call L.A. home. While "the bulk of the work came from New York's Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, the museum and trust say the rest was obtained with donations from The David Geffen Foundation and the Getty trust," notes the HuffPo, not everyone in Los Angeles is cheering.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Anotonovich is displeased with the news, and issued this terse objection today:
“The millions of dollars spent on this collection could have been better spent on expanding educational opportunities for our foster youth -- many who would like to have the opportunity to pursue a career in the arts.”
Is the funds or the what the funds were spent on that trouble Antonovich? The artist in question certainly raised his fair share of eyebrows before succumbing to AIDS. "Mapplethorpe, who died in 1989, attracted considerable controversy because of the erotic homosexual content of many of his photographs," notes the Daily News.
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