Friday, January 29, 2010

I Know How She Feels

A few years ago I was in a Z Gallerie, you know, looking at the bric-a-brac; fondling a knickknack; comparing tchotchke prices. And, not looking where I was going, I accidentally kicked a ceramic pot into a display cabinet and it shattered into a bunch of tiny little pieces.

Well, the Gallerie cops busted me right then and there, and with their strict You Break It, You Bought It policy, I was the proud own of a bag of pottery shards.

Okay, that didn't really happen to me, but imagine how embarrassing that would be.

Now, imagine that you're visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art [MOMA] in New York, and you stop to admire Pablo Picasso's "The Artist." And while you staring deeply into the brush strokes, you lose your balance and tear a hole in the painting.

And the painting is appraised at $130 million. Million!

That actually happened, and now that particular painting, although it can be repaired, is appraised as a damaged piece for $65 million. Appraiser Gerard van Weyenbergh says, "It's a 50 percent loss of the value -- at least. When an artwork comes up in auction, that's the first thing people want to know -- were there any repaints or restorations.

At least they didn't make her pay for it.

I know how that feels.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:22 AM

    Can you imagine the horror? But who grabs a multi-million dollar painting to catch their balance? I would rather do a face plant into the wall. Oh, the shame.

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  2. Anonymous10:01 AM

    This would be so bad!! Hopefully the repairs can be done with little affect to the beauty of the painting.

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  3. I wonder how they got close enough to it to do that. There are ropes and things to keep us away from the art. I know! I'm a toucher who has to restrain myself.

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  4. This was just on "Wait, Wait!"

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