By Stacey Stowe

A painting, "Girls on the Beach," by Marc Simmons was removed from the state Workers' Compensation Commission office in Hartford in 1996.  Several women on the staff complained that the painting, which depicted the artist's daughter and her teenage friends in bathing suits, was inappropriate and demeaning.

"We're just trying to decorate the walls, not trying to make a statement," said Marvin L. Smernoff, chief administrative officer of the commission.  "No one looked at it like it was a dirty picture.  It's just that the office is not necessarily the place to display young girls in bikinis."

"Girls on the Beach," as well as the entire exhibition of the state university art show from the Legislative Office Building, were eventually shown at Real Art Ways, A Hartford gallery and theater that features work by living artists, said Will K. Wilkins, director of the gallery.

"Of course the works are always removed without notifying the artists," Mr. Wilkins said. "If the artist were notified beforehand, there might be a chance for a dialogue between the people and the person who created it."