Monet, Twombly and the Price of Art Vandalism

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  10.16.07 | 9:03 AM ET

lepontdeargenteuil

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.

Tags: Global Village, Europe, France, News and Briefs

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


1 Comment for Monet, Twombly and the Price of Art Vandalism

TambourineMan 10.16.07 | 11:13 PM ET

“more often it’s not pranksters who slash art but self-promoters with a supposed cause.”

And sometimes, it’s just your typical idiot. A few years ago, at the Norton Simon Museum here in LA (Pasadena), I overhear some hillbilly say something to his wife about a Degas sculpture of a ballet dancer. “Boy, that Day-Gas sure is good.” The sculpture is on a pedestal, no glass case to protect it. And the guy starts touching it. I mean he’s FONDLING the thing. I see this and say, “Dude, what the f*ck are you doing!?” He looks at me, in total shock, and freezes. Next thing I know, a security guard appears out of nowhere, shoves him away from the sculpture and yells at him. I couldn’t believe it.

Still, Eva, I don’t know if I agree with you about added security and metal detectors and such. As the NYT writer says, I visit art museums to escape the police state (California) I’m living in. But I don’t have any other solutions.

Thanks for the story.

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