AITA for not taking my mom’s painting down?

A 19-year-old woman has a sentimental painting in her new apartment created by her mother, depicting a shirtless teenage prince and princess in a classical, fantasy style. When her maternal grandparents visited, her grandmother was outraged by the painting, deeming it inappropriate and pressuring her to hide it.

The woman felt disrespected by her grandmother’s scolding and refused to remove the artwork, leading to an argument. read the original story below…

‘ AITA for not taking my mom’s painting down?’

I (19f) have recently gotten my first apartment. My mom was a pretty good painter and had her own ancient-greece inspired fantasy setting. One notable thing about her world is that the standards of modesty are a bit different and men and women are more or less equal.

She dedicated one painting to me and my brother. It depicts a teenage prince and princess, siblings, sparring or play fighting. They’re both completely shirtless, which is intended to evolve classical paintings of greek myths and reference the previously mentioned different standards of modesty.

It’s pretty sentimental to me, so it’s hanging in the main area of my apartment. With the context out of the way, my mom’s parents came over for a visit with my 13 year old cousin, and I didn’t think to move it. My grandma freaked out and called it disgusting.

Got really upset that I thought it was okay, and made my cousin sit in the car, and tried to pressure me to hide it. I was upset that she had scolded my grown self in my home, so I refused and we argued. AITA?

Here’s the feedback from the Reddit community:

Hiply −  NTA – It’s art, it’s yours, and if you want it there then by all means keep it there.

Dittoheadforever −  You’re NTA.  Your 13 year old cousin saw a painting that had bare breasts in it??? The shock! The horror! The c**ruption! **/s** Granny needs to get the stick out of her ass and accept that her 13 year old grandchild has already seen much more graphic images in movies and on the internet.  Boobs in a painting doesn’t merit pearl clutching.

One-Passion5107 −  NTA. Your grandma is the one harming your 13 year old cousin by suggesting that a natural, non-sexual depiction of the human body is disgusting.  She perhaps just saw the nudity and freaked out, it might be worth trying to have a calm and respectful conversation with her in which you explain the meaning behind the picture and that it isn’t intended to be sexual or offensive in nature.

You could perhaps draw comparisons with classical art or sculpture in which the women are nude but in a relatively innocent way.  This said, if after all of that she is still determined to be offended by it, it would probably be easier just to compromise and move it when she is around. She could well be too old to change her mind on this one and there is wisdom in the saying ‘pick your battles’.

stu5640 −  NTA – I’ll bet your 13 year old cousin has seen muuuuuuuuch worse. There’s nothing shaming about displaying art when nudity is part of the art itself. Your grandmother is obviously old fashioned but that isn’t an excuse to go onto your home and start citicising.

Stand your ground – it’s YOUR home and you did nothing wrong. If gramdma doesn’t like it, she does not have to come.

IBlameMyPlayers −  NTA. Nudity isn’t necessarily sexual. If it can be put into a high school art history book then it should be fine.. Also, that painting sounds badass.

FAYCSB −  You’re NTA, but I’m not going to pretend that your mom painting a picture of teenage siblings shirtless isn’t weird as hell.

ImaginaryPark6311 −  Don’t ever take them to the museum.   They will get super offended by the naked statues and paintings.

TrickSea_239 −  Just curious, was none of this artwork hung in your family home anywhere? Bit of a shame to think she never displayed her own artwork, which grandma’s reaction seems to suggest? That’s the odd bit to me. I’d have assumed she knew the style of art your mother created, that it wasn’t hidden all this time.

NTA. Doubt cousin would even have noticed, aren’t these kids too obsessed with phones and TVs and gaming consoles these days. By making a big deal of it, cousin learns it’s a big deal, and their interest is immediately piqued in said subject

DoctorWhosCousin −  NTA- the oversexualization of breasts is ridiculous, if your grandma is so worried about a painting she’d be shocked what’s on the Internet. Keep it up and share it with pride, your grandmother sounds like TA.

spaetzlechick −  Apparently your cousins are being raised without the benefit of an art education. Can’t imagine a single art museum (other than kids museums) where nudity is not normal.

I can kinda think of it like alcohol. The kids whose parents never ever let them touch, taste or witness normal drinking behavior were the ones that went off the deep end when they got away.

It’s important to stand by personal sentiments, especially when it comes to meaningful family gifts. What do you think? Share your thoughts below!