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Charging Bull

 
Charging Bull

 
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Charging Bull (sometimes called the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull) is a 3,200 kg
Kilogram

The kilogram or kilogrammeThe spelling kilogram is used by the International Committee for Weights and Measures and the U.S....
 (7,000 pound
Pound (mass)

The pound or pound-mass is a Units of measurement of massused in the Imperial unit, United States customary units and other systems of measurement....
) bronze sculpture
Bronze sculpture

Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply a "bronze".Common bronze alloys have the unusual and desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, thus filling the finest details of a mold....
 by Arturo Di Modica
Arturo Di Modica

Arturo Di Modica is an Italian-American artist, born in Vittoria, Italy, Sicily, best known for his sculpture Charging Bull , which he installed without permission in front of the New York Stock Exchange in December 1989....
 that sits in Bowling Green
Bowling Green (New York City)

Bowling Green is a small public park in Lower Manhattan at the foot of Broadway next to the site of the original Dutch fort of New Amsterdam. It is the oldest public park in New York City and the location of the Charging Bull bronze sculpture....
 park near Wall Street
Wall Street

Wall Street is a street in lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. It runs east from Broadway to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District, Manhattan....
 in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
.

The sculpture depicts a bull
Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
, the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge.

The sculpture, one of the city's most photographed artworks, has become a tourist destination in the Financial District.






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Charging Bull At Bowling Green 060621
Charging Bull (sometimes called the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull) is a 3,200 kg
Kilogram

The kilogram or kilogrammeThe spelling kilogram is used by the International Committee for Weights and Measures and the U.S....
 (7,000 pound
Pound (mass)

The pound or pound-mass is a Units of measurement of massused in the Imperial unit, United States customary units and other systems of measurement....
) bronze sculpture
Bronze sculpture

Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply a "bronze".Common bronze alloys have the unusual and desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, thus filling the finest details of a mold....
 by Arturo Di Modica
Arturo Di Modica

Arturo Di Modica is an Italian-American artist, born in Vittoria, Italy, Sicily, best known for his sculpture Charging Bull , which he installed without permission in front of the New York Stock Exchange in December 1989....
 that sits in Bowling Green
Bowling Green (New York City)

Bowling Green is a small public park in Lower Manhattan at the foot of Broadway next to the site of the original Dutch fort of New Amsterdam. It is the oldest public park in New York City and the location of the Charging Bull bronze sculpture....
 park near Wall Street
Wall Street

Wall Street is a street in lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. It runs east from Broadway to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District, Manhattan....
 in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
.

The sculpture depicts a bull
Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
, the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge.

The sculpture, one of the city's most photographed artworks, has become a tourist destination in the Financial District. It has also come to be an unofficial symbol of the Financial District itself, and it often appears in the local news media to punctuate stories about optimism in the financial market.

Construction and installation

Di Modica spent some US$ 360,000 to create, cast, and install the sculpture following the 1987 stock market crash
Black Monday (1987)

In financial markets, Black Monday refers to Monday, October 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world Stock market crash, shedding a huge value in a very short time....
 as a symbol of the "strength and power of the American people." The sculpture was the artist's idea, not the city's. In an act of "guerrilla art", he trucked it to Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the New York City....
 and on December 15, 1989, installed it in front of the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange

New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange based in New York City, New York. It is the largest stock exchange in the world by United States dollar market capitalization of its listed companies' Security ....
 as a Christmas gift to the people of New York.

The police seized the sculpture and placed it into an impound lot. The ensuing public outcry led the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

The City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation is the department of government of the New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecological diversity of the city's natural areas, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's residents....
 to install it two blocks south of the Exchange in the plaza at Bowling Green. It faces up Broadway
Broadway (New York City)

Broadway, as the name implies, is a wide avenue in New York City. While New York has several other Broadways, in the context of the city it usually refers to the Manhattan street....
.

Ownership

In 2004, Di Modica announced that the bull sculpture was for sale, on condition the buyer does not move it from its present location. Di Modica continues to own the copyright to the statue. In 2006, Di Modica sued Wal-Mart and other companies for illegally benefiting from his copyright, by selling replicas of the bull and using it in advertising campaigns.

Symbolism

Besides symbolizing the bull market phase of the business cycle
Business cycle

The term business cycle or economic cycle refers to economy-wide fluctuations in production or economic activity over several months or years, around a long-term growth trend....
, a cast statue of a bull is mentioned in the Bible
Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
 story about the golden calf
Golden calf

The golden calf was an idolatry made for the Israelites during Moses' absence, as he went up to Mount Sinai. According to the Hebrew Bible, the calf was made by Aaron to satisfy the Israelites, whereas the Quran indicates the maker to be Samiri....
.

Further reading

  • Durante, Dianne, Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide (New York University Press, 2007): on the Bull's creation and current legal status.


External links