Brooke Shields Nude Picture from Age 10 Removed from Art Show

(Getty Images | Inset from telegraph.co.uk)

A nude picture of a 10-year-old Brooke Shields has been removed from an exhibit at a Tate Modern gallery in London because police have deemed it a "magnet" for pedophiles. The picture was taken in 1975, and in 1981, Shields lost a court battle to purchase back the negatives.

Brooke Shields in "Spiritual America." (From telegraph.co.uk)
The piece, entitled "Spiritual America," is actually a picture of a picture. "Spiritual America" is a photograph that artist Richard Prince took of the original Gary Gross photo. The photo features a heavily made up Shields naked and oiled up in a bath tub. It has been a controversial photo since the moment it was taken.

The Tate consulted with its lawyers and local police about whether or not they should display the image, and had planned to hang it in a room with a warning on the door. Founder of Kidscape Michele Elliott condemned the designation of the portrait as art.

"Brooke Shields was 10 years old when this picture was taken. She could not have given informed consent to it being used," Elliott said. "It must be bordering on child pornography. It is certainly not art."

"If you are using a picture of a naked child to bring people to your exhibition, then you are exploiting that child. It's as if they are using a 10-year-old girl for bait. I find it disturbing and they should be ashamed of themselves. And putting the picture in a room with a warning outside really is a magnet for pedophiles."

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