Jonathan Gent “The Beatles in America” / hands

(On October 11, 2012, this work - which portrays the penises of the Fab Four rendered in oil paint, their corresponding names written below in pencil - was defaced while on view at the Museum of Liverpool in England. The work was “pressed and smudged” by multiple visitors, none of whom appear to have been caught in the act. Gent’s painting had been intended to be auctioned off as part of an exhibition benefiting Claire House, a children’s charity that provides end-of-life hospital care for kids with complex medical needs. The painting was removed from the exhibition, and restoration attempts are currently underway.)