A mermaid statue is set to be removed from a European landmark site after critics dubbed it “ugly and pornographic”. The 14-tonne Den Store Havfrue (the Big Mermaid) will be taken down from its plinth at Dragør Fort, a former sea fortress turned historical landmark in Denmark, after attracting a slew of negative attention, according to reports.
The structure was described as “ugly and pornographic” by leading Danish art critic Mathias Kryger and derided as “a man’s hot dream of what a woman should look like”, by priest and journalist Sorine Gorfredsen in Denmark’s oldest newspaper, Berlingske. Ms Gotfredsen said the structure was “unlikely to promote many women’s acceptance of their own bodies” and suggested that the majority of visitors found it “vulgar, unpoetic and undesirable”. The Danish Palaces and Culture Agency have reportedly decided to retire the 4×6-metre statue because it does not “fit into the cultural-historic environment” of the 1910 site, which was built to defend Denmark from the south during World War 1.
However, restauranteur Peter Bech, who commissioned the busty granite sculpture from Beijing almost two decades ago, said the criticisms were “pure nonsense”. “The face is big, the upper body is big, the tail is big and, of course, the breasts are big,” he told broadcaster TV 2 Kosmopol.
“The mermaid has completely normal proportions in relation to her size. Of course the breasts are big on a big woman.”
Danish politician Paw Karslund echoed his view, telling the news outlet: “I simply think the argument that the statue [is] ugly and pornographic is too primitive. We shouldn’t be so afraid of a pair of breasts.”
Aminata Corr Thraine, debate editor at Berlingske, also likened backlash to the sculpture to body shaming.
“Do naked female breasts have to have a specific academic shape and size to be allowed to appear in public?” she wrote.
The Big Mermaid was initially installed at Langelinie Pier in Copenhagen, near the bronze and granite Little Mermaid, in 2006. It was relocated around 15km away to Dragør in 2018, however, reportedly in response to local disapproval.
Bech said the removal of his commission would be a loss to the area, with the more recent installation ranking higher among tourists on TripAdvisor than its 112-year-old counterpart.
He said he offered to donate the artwork to the municipality but was declined and has since received an offer from a private sculpture park. The businessman is reluctant to move the installation from the area, however, and is considering lodging a citizen’s proposal to keep it in the vicinity of the town.
“It has gradually become part of Dragør’s history, so I think it belongs here,” he explained. “It would be sad if it ended up in a parking lot somewhere. It’s so much more than just a garden gnome.”