Apparently a visitor to the Metropolitan Museum in New York managed to accidentally rip a six-inch hole in a painting by Picasso worth $130 million. More here.
The gallery issued the following statement – “Fortunately, the damage did not occur in a focal point of the composition, and the curatorial and conservation staffs fully expect that the repair, which will take place in the coming weeks, will be unobtrusive”. If the same had happened in the Fishmarket, I doubt our statement would have been as calm. We don’t have any Picasso exhibitions coming up in the near future so I shouldn’t worry.
I can understand how someone might trip over and smash a sculpture or a vase, as happened at the Royal Academy and the Fitzwilliam Museum. A painting seems much trickier to accidentally damage.
August 2009 saw a novel attempt to deface Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”. A Russian woman threw a cup of tea at the painting allegedly during a fit of dizziness brought on by Stendhal Syndrome. More about Stendhal Syndrome here and here. More about the tea hurling incident here.
It now transpires Stendhal Syndrome was a red herring. The woman was upset because she had been refused a French visa earlier that day.
"The Actor" - Pablo Picasso
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