An exhibition of young British artists at the Brooklyn Museum, "Sensation" certainly lived up to its title, leading New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to threaten withdrawing city funds from the museum and canceling its lease. Giuliani was particularly incensed over a portrait of the Virgin Mary that incorporated pornographic magazine clippings and elephant droppings. According to a New York Times review, "a shark in a tank of formaldehyde drew positive responses, but some thought a cut-up cow did not work as well." When the show first opened in 1997 at London's Royal Academy, most of the outrage was directed at a sympathetic portrait of a notorious British child murderer, decorated with children's handprints.

Amidst much talk of artistic courage, the Museum successfully defended itself in court on First Amendment grounds against the Mayor's initiative. However, some of the shine came off once the Times subsequently reported on the exhibit's unethical financial arrangements. When the museum's director, Arnold L. Lehman, could not secure any funding from the museum's usual corporate donors due to the exhibit's content, he sought donations from sources in the art world who had a direct commercial interest in generating controversy and inflating the value of the young artists' work. One donation for $160,000 came from Charles Saatchi, owner of the "Sensation" collection, in an arrangement the museum concealed from the public. A $50,000 donation came from Christie's, who used its sponsorship to promote its coming auction of contemporary art. Most cultural institutions, including the Brooklyn Museum, have strict rules against displaying works that are for sale.

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