Art: Smashed to Bits

Since last October, a two-ton green granite sculpture has been on display outside an uptown Manhattan art gallery. Valued at $80,000, the abstract 8-ft.-high Ubatuba (named after the Brazilian town where the granite was quarried) was the work of French Sculptor Antoine Poncet, a disciple of Jean Arp. Poncet hoped that Ubatuba would bring "a fresh and pure breath" to a city he calls "New York—the Tough." He was pleased that Gallery Owner Jacob Weintraub had put the sculpture outdoors "because there it comes in contact with the people." New Yorkers were pleased too: they often stopped to run their hands...