MALIBU'S PINK LADY

Whenever we head out on a road trip, I see things that I should write about; so it's time to catch up a bit.  Here's something I did not see, but it's a legend around Malibu.  We often drive through the tunnel and it is easy to see where the painting was, and how difficult it must have been to paint.  A large picture of the Lady graces one of the wall at a local pub, Tavern One on PCH.

Here's the story:

The Pink Lady was a short-lived painting on a rock face near Malibu, California in 1966. The painting was created by Lynne Seemayer (1936-2017), a paralegal from Northridge, California and depicted a 60-foot (18m) tall, nude woman in a running position.  

The painting was located on the rock face above the southern entrance of the tunnel on Malibu Canyon Road near Malibu. For some time, the rock face above the tunnel had been covered with graffiti, which Seemayer felt was "an eyesore". Working at night, she began removing the graffiti in January 1966, using ropes to suspend herself in front of the rock. When the rock was clean, she created the painting on the night of Friday, October 28, 1966.

By November 1, the painting had begun to attract local news coverage. It was dubbed the "Pink Lady" by the media, due to the pink paint used for the skin. Los Angeles County road officials, concerned about traffic problems the painting might cause, attempted to remove it with high-pressure spray from fire hoses, and then with paint stripper However, Seemayer had used heavy-duty house paint for her creation, and both methods failed to remove it.

When she realized that her work was in danger, Seemayer publicly admitted to creating the Pink Lady, and sought a court injunction. This failed, however, and on November 3 a road crew covered the painting with brown paint.

Seemayer sued the county for $1,000,000 for the destruction of her work, and the county counter-sued for $28,000 in removal costs. Since the painting was on private property, both cases were dismissed by the court. For some time after the painting was removed, Seemayer received hate mail and phone calls from people who felt the work was obscene, including threats of violence against her and her children. She also received a few offers from art galleries to show her work.
The image was used as a wine label.