Over 1,200 Columbia University students aren't fans of modernist art, but big supporters of crisp lawns.

Henry Moore was a famed English-born sculptor. Maybe you're not well-versed in famous 20th century sculptors because you have an active social life outside the realm of scultping or don't dabble in multimillion dollar lawn art.

But Moore's sculptures are found around the world. How "around the world" are we talking?

Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Piazza San Marco, Prato, Italy
Toronto City Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kenwood House Grounds, London, England
Jardine House, Central, Hong Kong
Zürichhorn, Zürich-Seefeld, Switzerland
Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Bouwcentrum, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany
--and on--
--and on--
--countless international locations--
And the list continues on around the world until you eventually include:
Columbia University, New York City, New York, USA

And what would be the point of stating how worldly accepted Moore's work is?

Over 1,200 students have signed a petition published in the school's newspaper arguing against the placement of Moore's Reclining Figure (1969-70) in front of the school's library simply because they think it's ugly. Thank goodness, too, because in a world of chaos, violence, and injustice, I'd hate to see so many people get behind something trivial.

The petition is passionate in its plea (my thoughts/sarcasm in parentheses):

As both inheritors and wards (ooh, they went big time and dropped a "wards" in there) of our beautiful campus ('beautiful'--funny word to use when you're arguing against art), we object to this desecration of our home. ('Desecrate' means a violation of something nearly sacred, like knocking over tombstones. In other words, Columbia is old and forgotten?) Whatever its artistic merits (said with a dismissive hand wave/finger snap), the sculpture in front of Butler Library will disrupt an otherwise crisp, geometric, and symmetrical landscape. ('Crisp' should only reference salads and January mornings.) Further, Moore’s modernist figure clashes with the neoclassical aesthetic instantly recognizable to generations of Columbians. (My long-deceased great-great-great-great grandfather will never recognize the place now.) It will also rob the the community of some of the few precious square yards of grass open to the public. (Yes, come gather, all of New York City, on yards on grass.)

The snow is hiding all the yards of crispness!!

The petition won't hold. Moore's Reclining Figure already has a base constructed outside of Butler Library and is soon to be set, ready to assault the tender sensibilities of Columbia's huddled, frightened masses.

This is Columbia University, not Canada. Toronto's City Hall might slum it with a Moore sculpture and amuse that hoi polloi, but they elected a mayor high on crack after all. Columbia students would suggest that explains Toronto's choice in art.



photos: Columbia and Wiki Commons