▲ The rushing bull statue, a symbol of New York Wall Street
Arturo di Modica, an Italian sculptor who created the’Rushing Bull’ that symbolizes Wall Street in New York, USA, died at the age of 80.
Di Modica has struggled with cancer in recent years and has died in his hometown of Sicily.
Di Modica, who has lived in New York for more than 40 years, is known to have created a bull statue inspired by the so-called’Black Monday’ event that triggered the global stock crash in October 1987.
Dee Modica later explained that this bronze bull statue, which is 4.9 meters long and weighs 3.5 tons, was “made to impress people with the fact that it is strong.”
In December 1989, he installed this bull statue in front of the New York Stock Exchange by surprise overnight without permission from New York City authorities.
When the police dismantled the bull statue, claiming that it was an illegal sculpture, people’s originality and criticism poured out, and it was relocated to the current location in Bowling Green Park near the exchange with permission from the city authorities.
It is known that the entire amount of the bull statue production cost of 350,000 dollars, and about 387 million won at the current exchange rate, was covered by his own expense.
The bull statue is considered the second most visited attraction in New York after the Statue of Liberty, and there is a legend that rubbing the bull’s nose and horn brings good luck.
When New York City unveiled plans to move the bull statue back to the exchange in December 2019 for the sake of visitor safety, Di Modica’s stubborn objection to “the current seat is perfect” became known to the media.
(Photo = Getty Image Korea)