Popular sculptor, Arturo Di Modica of Wall Street bull dies after prolonged illness

Arturo Di Modica, the man who sculpted the 'charging bull' in New York has died at the age of 80 in his hometown of Vittoria in Italy. The celebrated artist had been ill for some time and finally succumbed to bad health late on Friday, February 19.  It was in 1989, that the artist had installed the bronze statue in the New York's Financial District and since then it had become a symbol of American economic resilience. The sculptor had first arrived in New York in1973 and went on living there for 40 years. During his stay, opened an art studio in the city’s opulent SoHo neighbourhood.

 It was on a chilly night on December 16, 1989, that the Italian sculpture, without permission, installed his creation-the bronze bull-in the Financial District.  According to the Associated Press, the artist had spent $350,000 of his money to create the 3.5-ton bronze beast that later became one of the most visited destinations in the country. Speaking about the statute to Rome Daily earlier this month, Di Modica stressed that he conceived the bull sculpture as a “joke, a provocation. Instead, it became a cursedly serious thing". Elaborating further, he detailed how he along with some 40 friends, a crane and a truck carried out a lightning-fast mission to plant the statue near Bowling Green Park, without official authorization. He also revealed that the whole “operation” lasted only five minutes as the police made rounds on Wall Street every 7-8 minutes.