Brooke Shields Nude Photo Removed From ‘Pop Life: Art in a Material World’ Exhibition

The controversial nude photo of Brooke Shields, which was taken when she was 10-years-old has been removed from London’s Tate Modern.

The portrait by artist Richard Prince, was set to be shown starting Thursday as part of the “Pop Life: Art in a Material World” exhibition had raised the indignation of children’s advocates.  The room that contained the nude picture of Shields, now 44, has been closed off.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said of the Obscene Publications Unit visit:

“The officers have specialist experience in this field and are keen to work with gallery management to ensure that they do not inadvertently break the law or cause any offence to their visitors.”

The investigation was prompted by Kidscape, a group that campaigns against child abuse rightfully saying the image could be a “magnet for pedophiles.”

The photograph was originally taken by Garry Gross and shot with permission of Shields’s mother, Teri Shields.

Gross told Britain’s Daily Telegraph:

“the photo has been infamous from the day I took it, and I intended it to be.”

The piece has already been shown without controversy at New York’s Guggenheim Museum.

photo: Bauer Griffin