NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
If Wall Street wants a bull market, it has one now.
![The famous Wall Street bull could have a new owner.](/2004/12/20/news/newsmakers/nyse_bull/market_bull.03.jpg) |
|
The famous Wall Street bull could have a new owner. |
Sculptor Arturo Di Modica, who created the famous flared-nostril, 7,000-pound bull that sits in the heart of New York's financial district in lower Manhattan, is auctioning his famous piece to the highest bidder, the artist announced Monday.
The bronze sculpture is one of the world's best-known symbols of American capitalism and one of the biggest tourist draws in the financial district. On the 15-year anniversary of its arrival on Wall Street, the "Charging Bull" is up for grabs on one condition: that the new owner must leave it where it is.
"In addition to conceiving one of the most photographed and widely enjoyed pieces of public art in New York, Arturo Di Modica has now created a unique opportunity for a corporation, financial institution or private party to make a permanent mark on the city as the bull's owner," said Bradford Rand of The Fine Art Collection LLC, the firm handling the sale of the sculpture.
The buyer must donate the bull to New York City with the condition that it remains at its location in Bowling Green park. The new owner's name will be placed on a permanent fixture created by Di Modica that will sit next to the sculpture.
A portion of the proceeds of the sale will be donated to a New York charity.
Di Modica said in a statement that he was inspired by the 1987 stock market crash to create the bull, selling his family farm in Sicily to help fund the project.
The "Charging Bull" first arrived in front of the New York Stock Exchange under the cover of night on Dec. 15, 1989, but because it had no permit it was removed by police. So great was public support for the sculpture that on Dec. 20, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation arranged for the bull to have a stomping ground in Bowling Green, the city's oldest park.
The Wall Street Journal reported that potential buyers include financial institutions like Merrill Lynch.
|