Collector Buys ‘Winged Figure,’ Will Donate It to Museum : Controversy: The Icarus-themed painting of a nude male torso that had been commissioned--then rejected--for John Wayne Airport, is purchased by a Laguna Art Museum trustee.

Jim Morphesis’ controversial painting “Winged Figure” will be donated to the Laguna Art Museum by a longtime museum trustee who agreed Tuesday to buy the work from the New York artist for an undisclosed amount.

“Winged Figure” is the Icarus-themed painting of a nude male torso commissioned for a poster that was to commemorate the opening of the new terminal at John Wayne Airport. The poster was squelched after an airport commissioner objected to the painting as “inappropriate” to the occasion because of the nudity and because it featured no airplanes.

Laguna Art Museum trustee Joan B. Rehnborg, whose private collection of contemporary art includes three other Morphesis paintings, said she decided to buy “Winged Figure” and give it to the museum as a way of “taking someone else’s missed opportunity and turning it into a nice opportunity for us.”

Rehnborg also said her offer was meant as a vote of confidence in the artist.

“I respect and admire Jim’s work a great deal,” she said. “I like him very much as a person. I saw the work here at the museum. It’s a very strong work; it’s stunning. The museum’s collection will be enhanced by it.”

Although she would not specify how much she will pay Morphesis, Rehnborg said the amount exceeds the $5,000 the artist had agreed to take as part of the deal on the posters but said that it is less than he would ask if he was to sell “Winged Figure” on the open market. “Our arrangement was a compromise, but it was a price he was satisfied with,” she said.

Museum spokeswoman Nancy Coop said the painting will be added to the museum’s permanent collection pending acceptance by the collections committee and by the board of trustees, which are expected to approve the donation. “Winged Figure” is scheduled to be exhibited at the museum Sept. 28 through Dec. 16.

Rehnborg describes herself as a “born-again” Christian and said that “the irony of (that) struck me last night. . . . I get kidded about that a lot in the art world. But I also have written my own letter to the President as well as a dozen or so senators and congressmen asking for unrestricted reauthorization” of the National Endowment for the Arts.

She said her collection focuses on artworks that include Christian symbology and that the three Morphesis works she bought previously are from his Crucifixion series.

“Jim’s gift, as far as I’m concerned, is a gift from God. He’s a beautiful painter. It’s great that he can share his gift this way,” she said.

“The nudity” in “Winged Figure” “is very tasteful,” she added. “It’s a very strong work of art overall.”

She said she does not object to federal funding of more explicit works such as the controversial photographs by the late Robert Mapplethorpe “because, No. 1, I think there are far more obscene examples of pornography in the local video store. And I would rather risk a little bad taste in art exhibits than have someone else determining what is good taste for me.”