Council removes naked woman wall art

The image of a famous painting of a naked woman which appeared on an empty building in Gloucester has been removed. 

Pranksters are believed to have placed a wallpaper copy of Gustave Courbet’s famous painting L’Origine du monde onto the side of the Spread Eagle Court.

The French artist painted the controversial picture in 1866.

Gloucester City Council officials removed the wall art copy yesterday which was up in Spread Eagle Road. The identity of those behind the prank remains unknown.

Earlier this year council leaders had called for action over the ‘unsafe’ building which they deem to be an eyesore.

Councillor Angela Conder (LD, Kingsholm & Wotton) asked council leaders at the cabinet meeting on April 6 if they were in talks with the building’s owners.

She said at the time: “Spread Eagle Court is a continuing eyesore in a prominent position in Northgate Street.

“More importantly, it now appears to be in an unsafe condition. Given that the roof is no longer watertight, and windows have been broken, can the cabinet member assure the council and the public that steps have been taken to ensure the safety of passers-by and will the cabinet member take further action to enter into dialogue with the owners?”

Planning and housing strategy cabinet member Stephanie Chambers (C, Quedgeley Fieldcourt) said at the time that  building control officers had recently visited the site. She said they confirmed that the building is in a poor state of repair and clearly in need of maintenance. However, they do not believe it is a dangerous structure.

A spokesperson for the city council said: “We have received complaints about the image on the Spread Eagle Court building on Spread Eagle Road. We have now arranged for it to be removed.”

By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter

Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk