A banner at Cooper Union’s historic Foundation Building on East Seventh Street shows a 1953 Picasso portrait of Stalin. (Photo: Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times)
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/stalin-joins-lenin-in-the-east-village/
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NYCLU: WHY WAS STALIN BANNER REMOVED?
November 14, 2008
The New York Civil Liberties Union is demanding that city officials explain why they ordered The Cooper Union to remove a banner displaying an image of Joseph Stalin.
A spokeswoman for the private Manhattan art school says city buildings officials told the school on Oct. 31 that the banner violated the law. The spokeswoman said she didn't know which law.
Buildings officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The NYCLU says it wants to make sure city regulations weren't "selectively enforced because people complained about the image of Stalin."
The school says Norwegian artist Lene Berg created the banner, which features a reproduction of a 1953 portrait of Stalin by Picasso. At the time, the image was viewed as a critique of the Soviet leader.