Mr Bean goes to the museum

Are museums really always the safest homes for works of art?

Britain's art collections are taking a beating. Visitors to some of the nation's finest galleries and museums wreak havoc by walking into, leaning against, tripping over and even vomiting over valuable works, official records show.

The casualty list includes a chipped Anish Kapoor sculpture, a dented Barnett Newman painting, a vomit-stained Carl Andre piece and an installation at the Victoria & Albert Museum that was brought crashing to the ground when a security guard tripped over a barrier in the dark. In another incident, a huge 19th-century plaster cast was damaged by corporate clients clambering over it.

Read the rest in the Guardian.

This certainly is consistent with what I know of American museums, where all sorts of mishaps occur with no public fanfare. Still, I was surprised to hear about this attack:

At the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, a 16th-century painting by the Florentine artist, Agnolo Bronzino, An Allegory with Venus and Cupid, was dented in 2003 after being punched by a man.

I'd not heard about this before -- and this is about as prominent a painting as one could imagine (details here and here). While I'm not entirely comfortable about such incidents being hushed up -- especially if it affects decisions regarding the appropriate balance of public access and security in museums -- I can also see that one doesn't want to contribute to a rash of copycat crimes.

This article is also a useful reminder that every time an artwork is moved, there is an element of risk -- a lesson too often ignored in the enthusiasm for traveling exhibitions:

In January this year the painting Marcia by Domenico Beccafumi split in two as it was removed from the wall at the National Gallery.

This was reported back in May by the Art Newspaper, a story that was promptly picked up on by the NY Times.

Posted by David on September 28, 2008 12:48 PM