Curator and various photographs / pepper spray and ink

On the morning of October 3, 2014, three individuals were involved in a concerted act of assault and vandalism prompted by a photography exhibition on display at 540 W 21st Street in Chelsea (formerly the home of Eyebeam Art & Technology Center) featuring work from a selection of Russian, Ukranian, French, and Spanish photojournalists alongside physical artifacts from conflicts in those regions. 

Just after 10am, an older couple entered the gallery and went straight to the Ukranian section, where they began to disperse anti-Putin and neo-Nazi leaflets on the ground. As they were doing so, a younger man entered the space, walking directly to the table where the show’s curator, Benjamin Hiller, was seated. After cursing Hiller for having “brought shame” on the Ukranian people, the man attacked Hiller with pepper spray and kicked over the table. 

As this was happening, the older man used black ink to deface nearby photographs and scrawl the word “LIE” on the wall. 

All three perpetrators fled the scene and remain at large.

In 1988, Istvan Kantor (working under the guise of “Monty Cantsin”) performed his “MoMA Gift” in the museum’s second floor, producing vials of blood from his bookbag, spraying them in a giant “X” between two installed Picasso works, and proceeding to incant a militant text in which he donated the blood to the MoMA’s collection. He performed the same act at the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa) in 1991 and the Whitney Museum in 2014. In all cases, no other artworks were damaged. 

Banksy, Untitled (Surveillance Piece) / spraypaint

On August 1, 2014, this work, pasted to the side of a residential home in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was painted over by an unidentified tagger.

Given the work’s vulnerability to graffiti and the elements, it had already been coated by a layer of protective paint. Restoration experts were called in, with a protective plastic cover to be placed over the piece for additional protection. The work is expected to be fully repairable.

The Townley Venus (1-2AD) / various

This marble statue, adapted from from a lost Greek original from the 4th century BC, has been damaged a number of times, accidentally and otherwise. On several occasions, the work’s right hand has had to be repaired after visitors loosened or broke off its extended fingers, and in August 2011, an unidentified museumgoer stuck a wad of used chewing gum on the drapery at the front. In each case, the work was able to be restored.

“Drunken Satyr” / selfie mishap

On Tuesday, March 18th, 2014, this statue - a 19th-century plaster casting of a work dating back to the Hellenistic era - was damaged while on view at the Academy of Fine Arts Brera in Milan, Italy. According to security, the statue’s leg shattered under the weight of an unidentified student who had climbed onto it in the hopes of taking an amusing selfie. 

Ai Weiwei vase / dropped in protest

On February 18, 2014, a painted vase by Ai Weiwei was destroyed while on view at the Perez Art Museum in Miami. That afternoon, Maximo Caminero, a 51-year-old local artist, picked the work up and, when told by a security guard to put it down, dropped it to the ground, smashing the vase into pieces. Caminero later explained that the act was a protest against the gallery’s decision to only display international art, saying, “I did it for all the local artists in Miami that have never been shown in museums here. They have spent so many millions now on international artists. It’s the same political situation over and over again. I’ve been here for 30 years and it’s always the same.“

Caminero also explained that the act was directly inspired by Ai’s work - specifically "Dropping A Han Dynasty Urn,” a series of photographs which shows Ai himself dropping a vase to the ground. "It was a spontaneous protest,“ he explained. "I was at PAMM and saw Ai Weiwei’s photos behind the vases where he drops an ancient Chinese vase and breaks it. I saw it as a provocation by Weiwei to join him in an act of performance protest. I admire Ai Weiwei greatly and have always supported his actions.”

The work, valued at over $1 million, was destroyed beyond restoration.

various Jeff Koons sculptures / unidentified sharp object

Numerous sculptures by Jeff Koons were defaced while on view during Lady Gaga’s “artRave” event at Brooklyn’s Duggal Greenhouse on November 10, 2013. Those responsible were not identified; it’s unclear whether Koons intends to repair the works. 

unidentified statue by Giovanni d'Ambrogio (ca. 1500s ) / tourist

On August 6, 2013, an American tourist accidentally broke a finger off this statue while it was on view at the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence, Italy.

The unnamed tourist was reportedly attempting to measure the digit when it snapped off. 

Museum director Timothy Verdun was unsure as to whether the work could be repaired, as the finger was in fact a recast from the statue’s original hand.

The tourist apologized but is likely to face a hefty fine.

Pablo Picasso “Harlequin Head” (1971); Claude Monet “Waterloo Bridge, London” (1901) and “Charing Cross Bridge, London” (1901); Henri Matisse “Reading Girl in White and Yellow” (1901); Paul Gauguin “Girl in Front of Open Window” (1898); Meyer de Haan “Self-Portrait” (1890); Lucian Freud “Woman with Eyes Closed” (2002) / fire (?)

In July 2013, the mother of a suspected art thief confessed to having burnt these artworks in her kitchen stove.

Olga Doragu, mother of Radu Doragu, told police she burnt the paintings in a bid to destroy the evidence when her son was arrested in January. He was one of three suspects taken into custody after paintings collectively valued at $150 million disappeared from the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam on October 16, 2012.

“After the arrest of my son I was very scared because I knew that what had happened was very serious,” court documents record Doragu’s mother as having told police.

“I placed the suitcase containing the paintings in the stove. I put in some logs, slippers and rubber shoes and waited until they had completely burned.”

Dogaru told investigators she had initially stored the artworks in an abandoned house before eventually burying them in a cemetery in the village of Caracliu. Once police began searching for the works, she dug up the paintings and burned them.

Authorities are currently in the process of analyzing the ashes, which specialists say contained “small fragments of painting primer, the remains of canvas, the remains of paint” and copper and steel nails, some of which pre-dated the 20th century. Still, it could be months before Dogaru’s account can be verified.

Henri Matisse, “Reading Girl in White and Yellow,” 1919

Pablo PIcasso, “Harlequin Head,” 1971

Claude Monet, “Charing Cross Bridge, London,” 1901

Claude Monet, “Waterloo Bridge, London,” 1901

Paul Gaugin, “Girl in Front of Open Window,” 1898

Meyer de Haan,“Self-Portrait,"1890

Lucian Freud, "Woman with Eyes Closed,” 2002

Ralph Heimans, “The Coronation Theatre, Westminster Abbey: A Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II” (2012) / spray paint

Around noon on Thursday, June 13, 2013, a 41-year old man sprayed the word “HELP” onto this portrait of Queen Elizabeth II while the work was on view at Westminster Abbey. The suspect, Tim Haries, was arrested on site. Haries, a member of protest group Fathers 4 Justice, told police that he was a “desperate dad” who had damaged the painting in a bid to draw attention to his fight to gain access to his two children. A spokesman for Fathers 4 Justice supported the act, saying, “Tim Haries has lost all contact with his children and felt he had nothing to lose by appealing directly to the Queen for help by spraying his plea onto her portrait. I would support this act, but it is sad that he has to take such desperate steps.” The painting, which had been commissioned to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the queen’s coronation, was removed from public viewing, but museum spokespersons did not believe the damage to be irreparable.

above: Tim Haries

Ryan McGinley “Zachary” / paint

(On May 7, 2013, unidentified parties used a roller and white paint to damage a large-scale reproduction of this 2010 photograph while it was on view at the White Flag Projects gallery in St. Louis.

The 13-foot banner had been installed outside the gallery to promote “Coconut Water,” a group exhibition in which McGinley was featured.

Gallery representatives opted not to alert police, saying it was McGinley’s wish that the damaged artwork remain in place for the duration of the exhibition.

“I think it says something very different to let it remain there,” explained gallerist Matthew Strauss. “It speaks to something completely different now.”)

Claes Oldenberg and Coosje van Bruggen “Spoonbridge and Cherry” / Spray paint

(In April 2012, unidentified parties entered the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden at around 1:30 AM and spray painted “Kony” on three artworks,  including this sculpture. The vandals were presumed to be supporters of the Kony 2012 campagin. The works were successfully restored two days later.)

Eugene Delacroix “La Liberté Guidant le Peuple” (1830) / permanent marker

(Shortly before closing time on February 7, 2013, a 28-year-old woman used a permanent marker to deface this painting while it was on view at Louvre-Lens, the Louvre’s outpost in northern France. The woman scrawled a message at the bottom right corner of the work reading “AE911,” which authorities believe refers to the abbreviation for the conspiracy theory group Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. The woman was immediately apprehended; the damage was thought to be superficial and easily repairable.

Lens mayor Guy Delcourt said the woman had “told security, in a rather incoherent manner, that she wanted to put her mark” on the painting. Prosecutors did not release the woman’s identity, but said she was unemployed, had a master’s degree, did not have a criminal record, and would likely be hospitalized in a psychiatric facility prior to potential prosecution.)

Damien Hirst “Charity” / spraypaint

(In 2011, this 22ft-tall outdoor statue was tagged with graffiti while on display at the Royal West of England Academy of Art. The tag, which read “Hoax,” was subsequently removed.)

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.)

Maggi Hamblings “Scallops” / paint

(This public sculpture - created on commission as a tribute to English composer Benjamin Britten - has been vandalized 13 times since being installed on a beach in Aldeburgh, England in 2003. The subject of much debate amongst locals (numerous petitions have been made to have the sculpture removed), the work was most recently defaced in 2011, when someone painted it with phrases like “ITS JUST AN OLD TIN CAN,” “JUNK,” and “MOVE IT.”)

Mark Rothko, “Black on Maroon” / black paint

(On October 7, 2012, this 1958 painting was defaced by a male visitor while on view at the Tate Modern in London. The man, later identified as a Russian artist named Vladimir Umanets, used a marker pen to tag the work, writing, “Vladimir Umanets ‘12 / a potential piece of yellowism.” As a  witness at the scene tweeted “This guy calmly walked up, took out a marker pen and tagged it. Surreal.”

Umanets later told Britain’s Press Association news agency that he’d defaced the work in order to draw people’s attention to Yellowism, an artistic movement he’d co-founded, and compared his act to previous gestures from art history: “I didn’t destroy the picture. I did not steal anything. There was a lot of stuff like this before. Marcel Duchamp signed things that were not made by him, or even Damien Hirst.”

He also said he believed that his act had increased the painting’s value. “I believe in what I am doing and I want people to start talking about this. It was like a platform,” he said. “I didn’t decrease the value, I didn’t destroy this picture, I put something new.”)

Robert Irwin “Dot Paintings” / knives, Coca Cola, etc.

(In 1965, two  of Irwin’s “Dot Paintings” were damaged by visitors while on view at the Sao Paulo Bienal.

As Irwin later described, “I don’t really know what took place, but I was told subsequently that both the dot paintings I had in the show were destroyed within the first day. People attacked them, they cut them with knives, they threw things at them, they spit on them. I don’t know what all was on them when they got back; it looked like Coca Cola.  And they marked them all up - not just one person, apparently, but a number, because there were all these different gestures…I really don’t know [what instigated the attacks]. I suppose the paintings were perceived as a very minimal kind of expression, and for some reason during that period of time, that really angered people…I guess they somehow intuitively recognized it as an attack on a lot of the values they held. It threatened them.”)

Elias Garcia Martinez “Ecce Homo (Behold the Man)” / paint

(In August 2012, an elderly parishioner made an unauthorized attempt to restore this 19th century fresco, painted onto a wall of the Sanctuary of Mercy Church in Zaragoza, Spain. The woman, in her 80s and apparently acting with good intentions, brought a set of paints to church and proceeded to “update” the fresco, which had suffered extensive deterioration from moisture.
Adding insult to injury, the church had plans to restore the work themselves, having recently received a donation from the painter’s granddaughter.)

Brett Murray “The Spear” / paint

(On May 22, 2012, this controversial painting of South African president Jacob Zuma (which depicts the politician, genitals exposed, in a dramatic pose reminiscent of Soviet-era poster work) was defaced while on view at Johannesburg’s Goodman Gallery.

The artwork was damaged by two men - one of whom painted a red X across Zuma’s face and genitals as the other threw black paint onto the canvas.

One of the men, arrested at the scene, said simply, “The painting was offensive.”)