Crucified Santa Painting Pulled By NYC Gallery After Complaints

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A painting of Santa Claus nailed to a crucifix has been pulled by a Midtown fine art gallery.

Robert Cenedella's infamous work "The Presence of Man" was on display at Central Park Fine Arts for just two days before it was decided to take the painting down, a source said. Partners at the gallery made the decision after receiving complaints and noticing a downturn in walk-ins, the source said.

The painting — which depicts the scene of the crucifixion with Santa Clause swapped in for Jesus — was hung in the front display window of the gallery on Monday and was supposed to remain on display until Dec. 26. It was the first time in nearly 20 years that the controversial work has been on public display.

Cenedella doesn't hold ill will toward Central Park Fine Arts because they have featured some of his controversial works in the past and agreed to resurface "The Presence of Man" after it hadn't been shown publicly for two decades.

"I don't feel good that it's not in the window but I don't really blame the gallery because I doubt that any other gallery in the city would have put that painting up, but they did," Cenedella told Patch. "They have their business to think about."

When the painting debuted in 1988, the Catholic Church labeled it an offensive attack on Catholicism. But Cenedella insists the painting is not an attack on religion, but instead a commentary on American commercialism.

Cenedella's purpose for painting "The Presence of Man" wasn't to offend but to make people think about the intersection of religion and commercialism, he said. The fact that people complained more about the painting 20 years after its debut is "a shame," he said.

"There's no give and take, it's either black or white," Cenedella told Patch. "I think it's kind of tragic that it was better received, in a way, 20 years ago than it is today. It says a lot about art and museums as well, that a lot of controversial art does not make it into museums because that's not what art seems to be about anymore."

The painter attributes this lack of open-mindedness to the rise of Donald Trump in politics. In the "Trump Age," people feel that anything they don't like or agree with should be suppressed, Cenedella said.

Photo courtesy Chris Concannon