A topless painting of “Golden Girls” star Bea Arthur has sold for nearly $2 million, according to auction house Christie’s. Arthur never sat nude for artist John Currin so he had to paint Bea Arthur Naked using a photograph of the actress with her clothes on.

When Currin imagined Arthur from the chest up in 1991, the “Golden Girls” star wondered whether the artist was drawn to the feminist movement of the 1970s. Due to her role as Maude on the TV series “Maude” in the 1970s, Arthur said that she was the “Joan of Arc of feminism” in Currin’s painting.

However, Currin once remarked that he always thought of Arthur as “more of a maternal figure than a feminist icon.”

Sadly, Arthur died of cancer in 2009. She was an award-winning television actress whose most notable roles include Maude on “Maude” and Dorothy Zbornak on “Golden Girls.”

Controversial when it first appeared, Bea Arthur Naked was once again controversial more than two decades later. The Daily Beast said that it was locked out of its Facebook account after posting a picture of the painting on its Facebook page. According to the website’s social media editor, the following error message was received after attempting to post content: “account(s) could be permanently disabled if you continue to post things that violate our terms.”

What do you think of Currin’s Bea Arthur Naked? Is Arthur a feminist icon or a maternal figure? Would you have paid nearly $2 million for this painting? Should Facebook allow users to post nude art? Sound off in the comments section.