The Largest Copyrighted Piece of Art in the World Stands Here in New England

New England Art Galleries

It's easy to see New England as an artistic region simply because of all the picturesque sites we either see or have access to on a daily basis:

Lighthouses, mountains, foliage, beaches, lakes -- you name it, it exists here in New England.

But New England also reeks of artistic because of the countless art galleries there are throughout the region. From the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to the Portland Art Gallery and Portland Museum of Art in Maine, and everything location in between, there's no shortage of art galleries in the area.

Which is why it shouldn't be shocking that the largest copyrighted piece of art in the world exists right here in New England, and you don't even need to go to an art gallery to see it.

The Rainbow Swash

If you've driven along Interstate 93 in Boston at all, other than being miserable because of the nonstop clogged traffic you've sat in either for rush hour or construction, you may not have realized that you've also been in the presence of the earlier mentioned largest copyrighted piece of art in the world.

The Rainbow Swash, which is a piece of art painted on the 140-foot gas tank located in Dorchester, Massachusetts, was painted by Sister Mary Corita Kent back in 1971, according to The Boxer Boston.

The Good Sister was very outspoken about the Vietnam War, and it's believed that she used The Rainbow Swash to silently protest the war based on a hidden face that exists in the art work, and was even re-created when the original gas tank was torn down in the early '90s and replaced with a very similar version, albeit larger.

Because in the blue swash, according to The Boxer Boston, it's believed that there is a slight profile of Ho Chi Minh, which can be vaguely made out just under the crease of the top of the tank, reminiscent of an eye, nose, mouth, and long goatee.

According to The Boxer Boston, Sister Kent denied the Ho Chi Minh claims, and the rest is history.