Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, hosts an exhibition of paintings by a Spanish artist of the last century, Pablo Picasso. However, one of the works of the great master displayed in the National Gallery was in the center of attention of the public and the press not so much in the exhibition exposition as in the arrivals hall of Edinburgh International Airport.
A poster with an image of one of the paintings of the exhibition entitled "Naked Woman in a Red Armchair" was posted in the airport lounge. It shows the seventeen-year-old Frenchwoman Marie-Theres Walter, in the manner typical of the classic Cubist. However, not so much the peculiarities of the master’s style aroused increased attention of air passengers as the nakedness of the girl. Some of them expressed their dissatisfaction with the airport administration, and it was decided to remove the poster so as not to embarrass particularly sensitive arrivals.
However, when the advertising manager turned to the organizers of the exhibition with a request to replace the poster with the image of some other Picasso painting, art critics were already indignant. John Leighton, one of the directors of the Scottish National Gallery, said in the press that the demand to remove a work of art displayed around the world seems strange. Especially if there are advertisements at every step with the image of female bodies dressed or undressed to varying degrees. He invited indignant air passengers to an exhibition where they can see real art in the master’s paintings, depicting one of Picasso’s favorite models. The artist painted Marie-Thérèse several dozen times, and, according to one legend, met her in a crowd at a metro station in Paris.
After talking with the organizers of the exhibition, the airport administration revised the previous decision to remove the problematic poster. The press relations manager apologized to the Scottish National Gallery, and at the same time expressed his respect to air passengers, whose opinions should always be given special attention. In addition, he said that at the Edinburgh air terminal they were simply happy to show this picture and the poster took its former place.
