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.
