Looking Toward the Avenue 1989

Venus de Milo (Greek, 100 BCE, unknown artist) has been considered the ideal classical figure since it was found by the French in 1820, an embodiment of beauty. But when Jim Dine referenced the Venus de Milo in “Looking Toward the Avenue,” it sparked a debate on art and beauty. Ironically, many people found Dine’s three sculptures offensive and ugly. Jerry Speyer of Tishman Speyer Properties commissioned the sculptures to adorn the former J.C. Penney building after his company bought it in 1988.