The Controversial History of Censored Artworks
Mao (F. & S. II.96) © Andy Warhol 1972
Live TradingFloor
Art has long existed as a battleground for the values we hold and the boundaries we’re willing to defend. From Michelangelo’s painted draperies that belied his nudes in the Sistine Chapel to Andy Warhol’s silkscreened Mao portraits banned in China, the struggle over what remains visible has defined history’s volatile moments. In today’s climate, this tension continues. As governments and institutions censor artworks in order to bolster ideological agendas, the canvas of free expression remains contested. It is through these campaigns of erasure that censorship can paradoxically illuminate prejudice while igniting resistance in those who refuse to be silenced.
A History of Censorship
Image © picryl / The Last Judgment © Michelangelo 1536 - 1541Michelangelo
Long before modern controversies, censorship’s shadow fell over Renaissance Rome. In 1536, Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment scandalised the Vatican with its unapologetic display of nude bodies. His monumental fresco challenged traditional Catholic depictions of Christ, garnering criticism that its muscular nudes were overly explicit and lacking the grace and decorum of Raphael. After Michelangelo’s death, papal authorities imposed retroactive modesty, commissioning painted fig leaves and draperies to obscure what they deemed indecent.
Image © Wikimedia Commons / L’Origine Du Monde © Gustave CourbetGustave Courbet
Three centuries later, Gustave Courbet ignited another scandal with L'Origine du monde (1866), a realist oil painting commissioned by Khalil Bey - a wealthy Turkish diplomat renowned for his erotic art collection. The work featured an intimate portrayal of a woman’s lower torso, pubic hair, genitals, and breasts, her head veiled beneath a white sheet, its title alluding both to the generative power of the female form and Courbet’s own sexual preoccupations. The artwork's inclusion of pubic hair, then taboo outside pornographic material, ensured the painting remained hidden in private collections for over a century. It wasn’t until 1991 that it was finally displayed publicly in France at the Musée d'Orsay, where it now hangs as a celebrated, yet still provocative, masterpiece. However, despite L'Origine du monde no longer being hidden, controversy has clung to it across eras. The artwork was censored by Facebook in 2011, and in May 2024, artist Deborah de Robertis and fellow activists spray-painted “MeToo” across its protective glass at the Centre Pompidou-Metz. De Robertis framed the intervention as a feminist performance, denouncing the predatory behaviour of men in the art world. Though the painting remained unharmed, the action underscored its enduring power to ignite debate over eroticism, consent, and the representation of the female body in art.
Image © Instagram / Immersion (Piss Christ) © Andrés Serrano 1987Andres Serrano
In 1987, Andrés Serrano unveiled Immersion (Piss Christ), a Cibachrome photograph featuring a small plastic crucifix submerged in a vessel of the artist’s own urine as part of his ongoing exploration of bodily fluids and religious iconography. The image’s juxtaposition of sacred symbol and bodily excretion ignited accusations of sacrilege from religious groups and conservative pundits. When Piss Christ debuted at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond in 1989, it provoked fierce condemnations from right-wing senators Jesse Helms and Alfonse D’Amato, who assailed the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for indirectly funding what they deemed obscene “anti-Christian bigotry”. Serrano had received approximately $20,000 in public funding via the NEA-backed Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, a fact that transformed the debate into a dispute over the role of government in supporting controversial expression. The resulting uproar led Congress to cut the NEA’s budget by nearly two-fifths which sparked a broader culture-war battle over public arts funding that would reverberate through the subsequent decade. Critics of censorship argued that the outrage only amplified the photograph’s power, transforming a relatively small print into a global flashpoint in the fight for artistic freedom. Supporters of Serrano emphasised the work’s aesthetic qualities, arguing that its violence lay not in sacrilege but in forcing viewers to confront the corporeal realities behind religious mythos. Over the years, Piss Christ continues to endure protests, death threats, and even vandalism in 2011.
Andy Warhol
Censorship resurfaced in the 21st century when China barred the display of Andy Warhol’s iconic Mao series during the Beijing and Shanghai legs of the The Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal exhibition in 2012. The silkscreen series, created in the 1970s, reimagines the former Chinese leader in Warhol’s signature pop style: bright colours, repetition, and a satirical edge that transforms political iconography into mass-produced celebrity. Though widely circulated in tourist markets, the official stance deemed these depictions too irreverent for public exhibition. The ban stemmed from the continued reverence for Mao Zedong as a foundational figure in Communist Party ideology. While the Warhol Museum expressed disappointment at having to omit such a pivotal work, they conceded to the cultural and political constraints, underscoring how even decades after Mao’s rule, his image remains tightly controlled.
These episodes of art censorship, centuries apart, uncover a paradox at art’s core: every attempt to mute its transgressions only magnifies the cultural taboos the works reveal.
Complex Censorship
In 2017, Dana Schutz’s Open Casket triggered conversation about race, representation and artistic licence. The white artist’s rendering drew directly on the photographs of fourteen-year-old Emmett Till’s mutilated body after he was lynched in 1955. At the Whitney Biennial, artist Parker Bright protested by wearing a T-shirt reading “Black Death Spectacle,” and writer Hannah Black’s open letter demanded not only the painting’s removal but its destruction as an objectionable act of racial appropriation. Defenders of Schutz pointed to her broader practice of depicting human suffering and cautioned that censoring or obliterating art undermines public discourse; critics countered that her work commodifies Black trauma. The discussions Open Casket prompted reflect a long-standing history of debates over identity and who has the right to participate in telling that history.
Trump’s Culture War
Under the revived Trump administration, artworld anxiety has surged as federal cultural policy has shifted sharply. On 14 March 2025, issued an order dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services, cutting off a key source of grants for thousands of museums, libraries and cultural organisations. Less than two weeks later, on 27 March, his executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”, directed the Smithsonian’s board of regents, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance, to remove what it termed “divisive, race-centered ideology” from exhibitions and to deny funding for displays that “degrade shared American values.”
In practice, these measures forced the Museum of the Americas in Washington, DC to cancel planned exhibitions by Black and LGBTQ+ artists, and raised alarms at the National Museum of Women in the Arts over restrictions on queer and trans narratives. Rather than overtly banning works, the administration has used funding cuts and board oversight to suppress diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and to reshape institutional programming.
Image © Wikimedia Commons / Prospero and Ariel © Eric Gill 1931-33International Cases of Censorship
Turkey
Artists in Turkey have long navigated the threat of censorship and legal reprisals for voicing dissent, but that pressure intensified sharply after the AKP’s municipal losses in 2024. Creatives now face investigation or prosecution merely for producing politically charged work. Among them is architect-photographer Murat Germen, who was briefly detained after promoting a one-day “no shopping” boycott on social media. Mainstream institutions have largely stayed silent, wary of alienating their powerful patrons, leaving smaller galleries and independent spaces to shoulder the risk of overtly critical programming. However, artists such as Ali İbrahim Öcal continue to strategise creative defiance, marshalling creative practices into forms of political critique.
UK
In April 2025, the BBC navigated its own censorship dilemma by reinstalling Eric Gill’s Prospero and Ariel sculpture on the facade of Broadcasting House - this time mounted behind a transparent protective screen. The BBC argues that Gill’s work is a notable example of early 20th-century design and has included the addition of a QR code that acknowledges his abusive history. However, this contextualisation does little to absolve the BBC of its ethical duty not to elevate an artist guilty of sexual violence, and the BBC’s response contributes to the debate surrounding whether contextualisation can ever fully address the harm left by an artist’s abuses.
Israel–Palestine
Since late 2023, cultural institutions have faced mounting pressure from all sides of the Israel–Palestine war, resulting in both accusations of censorship and warnings against unbridled protest. In the United States, the National Coalition Against Censorship’s March 2024 launch of an Art Censorship Index highlighted how venues withdraw programmes over the “perceived political content” of a work; an indication that decisions often reflect institutional caution as much as ideological bias. Within this context, museums and galleries must weigh their commitment to free expression and historical honesty against the risk of reputational damage, funding cuts or legal challenges, all while striving to serve communities whose experiences often conflict.
The Future of Censorship
Despite the pressures of censorship, artists and advocates resist erasure. The AAMD’s early 2025 survey revealed that although 55% of museum directors believe censorship is a “much bigger problem” today than a decade ago, many also champion transparent programming that frames contentious works in historical and social context. Focus surrounding censored artists reminds us that suppression often amplifies interest, and censorship challenges us to inspect the motivations behind these acts.
