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How to get an F in art class: fall through a Picasso
Drunken airline passengers aren't the only people to do stupid things. An art student examining a Picasso painting somehow managed to fall into it and put a six-inch tear into the priceless work of art.The painting, called The Actor and dating to the winter of 1904-05, was on display at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The woman who did the damage was not named, but it's likely she won't be showing her face around the Met anytime soon. Museum officials were quick to reassure art lovers that the damage would be repaired in time for the Picasso in the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition, which opens April 27 and will feature 150 of the artist's works from the museum's collection.
There is no report on what grade she got in her class. No extra credit for guessing the correct answer.
Filed under: Arts and Culture, North America, United States
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
fred Jan 26th 2010 8:44PM
How fortunate for art lovers everywhere that Picasso left us well over 200 painting & sketches to enjoy and admire. The risk of someone falling onto a major art work accidentally, or deliberately attacking a painting, rose 300% with the new concept of laser beam security. There is no glass, or barrier, between the observer and the canvas. Not too many years ago - and is still there in museums that cannot afford high security lasers - there was a railing between the people and a Picasso. It was low enough that children could see over it; an art student could sit and study the art on the wall ; but high enough to emphatically define a meter distance to the art work. It is a question all museums face for all exhibits: which is the more important, preserving and guarding the item; or enabling students - not on a special tour - to get close enough to study the brush strokes.
Kelly Jan 26th 2010 8:57PM
It is only "priceless" because of the "value" that people put on it... Picasso sucked anyway. who cares.... BFD
Gold Jan 27th 2010 3:06AM
^5, along with being a well known womanizer.
dave Jan 26th 2010 9:07PM
opps,sorry
doc Jan 26th 2010 9:22PM
Kelly
Jan 26th 2010 8:57PM
It is only "priceless" because of the "value" that people put on it... Picasso sucked anyway. who cares.... BFD
who sucks the most, you, or picasso?
mary Jan 26th 2010 9:28PM
if the painting was so priceless then why was it just out in the open?? & not in a secure setting... maybe with a chain link fence around it .. the type you may see around dinasour skeletons or or other prehistoric like artifacts.
Realartlover Jan 26th 2010 9:38PM
Picasso's Confession
"From the moment that art ceases to be food that feeds the best minds, the artist can use his talents to perform all the tricks of the intellectual charlatan. Most people can today no longer expect to receive consolation and exaltation from art. The 'refined, 'the rich, the professional 'do-nothing, 'the distillers of quintessence desire only the peculiar, the sensational, the eccentric, the scandalous in today's art. I myself, since the advent of Cubism, have fed these fellows what they wanted and satisfied these critics with all the ridiculous ideas that have passed through my mind. The less they understood them, the more they admired me. Through amusing myself with all absurd farces, I became celebrated, and very rapidly. For a painter, celebrity means sales and consequent affluence. Today as you know, I am celebrated, I am rich. But when I am alone, I do not have the effrontery to consider myself an artist at all, not it the grand old meaning of the word; Giotto, Titian, Rembrandt, Goya were great painters. I am only a public clown – a mountebank. I have understood my time and have exploited the imbecility, the vanity, the greed of my contemporaries. It is a bitter confession, this confession of mine, more painful than it may seem. But at least and at last it does have the merit of being honest."
Pablo Picasso, 1952
HollyGoLightly Jan 26th 2010 10:42PM
Brilliant! Thank you, REALARTLOVER, for sharing Picasso's insights into the artworld and into the human psychi. He was so much smarter than those who bought his work! Bravo!
Gold Jan 27th 2010 3:10AM
Yep all hype....
It's not how talented one is, it's all who you know.
moeelmore Jan 26th 2010 10:24PM
I fear I lack the perception and intellect to appreciate Picasso. To me he started as an artist and ended up a con man -- to me his Priceless Masterpieces are for he most part crap. they engender no emotion or appreciation of his use of light, ability to convey emotion or any sentiment at all. So all you art lovers out there, you can mourn damage to that picture, but a look at the picture makes me think of 8th grade art contests.
Pika Jan 26th 2010 10:41PM
He ruined a real Picasso!!!! Well, DEAR INTERNET...
Pika Jan 26th 2010 10:42PM
Pardon me, it should be "she" :P
Shelly Jan 26th 2010 10:53PM
The damage can be fixed easy. A 6 inch piece of duct tape over the rip and it will nearly as good a new.
CK Jan 26th 2010 11:26PM
The young lady has performed a public service and will one day be recognized as a respected and qualified art critic.
CK Jan 26th 2010 11:30PM
Picasso has a following but if you meet the collectors you will find they are shallow, lack judgment and are best at playing follow the leader. Picasso "works" are suitable only for a starving artist sale, common as dirt and worth a little less by weight. His only redeeming value is that he avoided black velvet as a backing. If you like color, spill paint on a flat surface and save your money.
dude Jan 27th 2010 12:04AM
Somehow this was George Bush's fault!!!! Those silly Republicans.......
Aaron Driskill Jan 27th 2010 12:05AM
Accidents happen, and I am sure the woman feels bad. But saying a piece of art is crap that hangs in museums all over the world is an insult that is being spilled out of an idiots mouth that has no respect for art, there for you have no business commenting on it! If you dont like a piece of art, its alright, but dont insult a dead mans work that is now worth more than anything you probably will ever have! And learn a little respect!
Anna Jan 27th 2010 12:13AM
A friend of mine is fellow at the MET and said that the girl was in an adult special education class - a fact that has been deliberately down played in the media for her benefit. Perhaps in the future it is best not to assume these things happen purely from carelessness (though things like this do happen very very often, they jsut don't get publisized)
beth Jan 31st 2010 7:36AM
i have to agree with most of you that picasso was not that talented. i wouldnt have bought one of his paintings at a garage sale for $1.00. it makes me wonder who these idiots are that pay millions for what any 3rd grader could do........ Art, my a$$................
thundercat1945 Jan 27th 2010 12:31AM
Don't let bulls in China Shops or Museums. She must have considerable difficulty walking and chewing gum at the same time.