Moscow Gallery Fined $1,500 for Promotion Posters with Bosch Characters

Industry September, 28 2016 Nikolay Udintsev

The Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia fined Artplay, an exhibition venue in Moscow, for promotional posters for an Hieronymus Bosch exhibition featuring characters of his paintings.

Promotion posters for the exhibition of Bosch’s works in Moscow depicted fragments of his paintings. The government agency considered they were breaking the law On Advertisement, which prohibits the use of ‘expletives, obscene and offensive images, comparisons and expressions.’ On September 26, the venue was fined for 100,000 rubles, which currently equals about $1,500.

In August, after a complaint from a Moscow citizen, the Federal Antimonopoly Service ruled that one of the promotion posters that depicts a fragment from the Garden of Earthly Delights triptych. Artplay, the venue that hosted the exhibition, had to dismantle all advertisements featuring the fragment.

The exhibition, which was on until August 31, featured projections of Bosch’s paintings, their fragments and animated parts. The exposition was prepared for the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death.