Monet, Twombly and the Price of Art Vandalism

Talk about an art lover. A woman who kissed a Cy Twombly painting worth close to $3 million—leaving a red lipstick smear that restorers have been unable to remove—went on trial in Avignon last week, charged with “voluntarily damaging a work of art.” The defendant, who described the kiss as an “act of love,” faces a hefty fine and a mandatory class on good citizenship.

Just as the Avignon trial was getting underway, Paris police also announced the arrest of five people in connection with a recent break-in at the Musee d’Orsay, during which a hole was punched in Claude Monet’s “Le Pont d’Argenteuil.” Unlike the Twombly, the Monet appears to be reparable.

The French take their art seriously—in addition to housing a vital part of the country’s cultural heritage, the Musee d’Orsay and others are also big-money tourist draws—so I won’t be surprised if the suspects in Paris are hit with substantially heavier charges than the art lover in Avignon. And I’ll be glad to hear it; I had a poster of “Le Pont d’Argenteuil” on my wall all through college, and chose the Musee d’Orsay over the Louvre when I was in Paris just to see the Impressionist collection. I was shocked to hear about such a pointless, selfish, destructive act.

But how will these two high-profile incidents affect all of us peaceful, law-abiding, lipstick-free visitors? Will we see a heavier security presence, tighter restrictions on visitors’ movements, bag searches, longer lines? All of which could, I suppose, dim the magic of seeing these works of art in person.

That probably won’t happen. These incidents, unfortunately, aren’t isolated cases, as a slide show and story by Michael Kimmelman in the New York Times point out.

Still, if the alternative is to see paintings with new seams where holes have been sewn up, I’ll take the metal-detectors and the long waits in line.

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