Elton John claims porn-probe picture
Wednesday, 26 Sep 2007 17:28
Sir Elton owns the collection at the centre of the child pornography investigation
A photograph which sparked a child pornography investigation is owned by Sir Elton John, according to the singer's website.
Police seized a picture by Nan Goldin - entitled Klara and Edda Bellydancing - from Gateshead's Baltic Centre on September 20th, according to the singer's spokesman.
A statement released on Sir Elton's website has confirmed that he owns the picture.
"The photograph entitled Klara and Edda Bellydancing (1998) is one of 149 images comprising the Thanksgiving installation by renowned US photographer Nan Goldin," the statement reads.
It is part of a monograph of Ms Goldin's works entitled The Devil's Playground and was offered for sale at Sotheby's New York in 2002 and 2004.
The statement confirms the photograph has previously been exhibited in Houston, London, Madrid, New York, Portugal, Warsaw and Zurich "without any objections of which we are aware".
"Elton John is known as one of the world's foremost collectors of photographic art and has several thousand photographs in his collection, including works by Man Ray, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Diane Arbus and Ansel Adams", the statement added.
A Northumbria police spokeswoman confirmed the seizing of the photo.
"We attended the Baltic last Thursday at the invitation of management who were seeking advice about an item from an exhibition prior to it going on public display," she explained.
"This item is being assessed and Northumbria police, in consultation with the crown prosecution service, is investigating the circumstances surrounding it."
Police were called to an exhibition - including works by Ms Goldin - at the Saatchi Gallery in London in 2001, after complaints of indecency, though no conviction followed.