A child’s innocent touch just cost a Dutch museum a $56 million headache when they accidentally damaged one of Mark Rothko’s most valuable paintings.
At a Glance
- A young visitor accidentally scratched Mark Rothko’s “Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8” painting valued at $56 million at the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam
- The damage occurred in the unvarnished paint layer, making restoration particularly challenging due to Rothko’s complex materials and techniques
- Museum officials are consulting conservation experts from the Netherlands and abroad to determine restoration methods
- The painting has been temporarily removed from display but is expected to return in the future
- The incident raises questions about museum security and who will bear the cost of repairs
Another Masterpiece Falls Victim to Curious Hands
In what can only be described as every museum curator’s nightmare, a priceless piece of abstract expressionist art has fallen victim to a child’s curiosity. The Boijmans Van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam confirmed that Mark Rothko’s “Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8,” valued at around $56 million, sustained superficial damage after a child touched the painting during what the museum described as an “unguarded moment.” The incident occurred at the museum’s publicly accessible Depot, where the painting was on display while the main museum undergoes renovations that will keep it closed until at least 2030.
A museum spokesperson told the BBC that the damage consisted of “small scratches visible in the unvarnished paint layer in the lower part of the painting.” While this might sound minor to the average person, art conservationists are already sounding the alarm about the specialized care needed for such a valuable work. Modern abstract masterpieces like Rothko’s are particularly vulnerable to even the slightest touch – apparently, much like today’s easily offended college students, these paintings need their safe spaces too.
Million-Dollar Scratch Requires Million-Dollar Fix
Conservation experts are now facing the daunting task of determining how to repair a painting that was never meant to be touched in the first place. Sophie McAloone, conservation manager at the Fine Art Restoration Company, explained the unique challenges of restoring Rothko’s work: “Modern unvarnished paintings like Rothko’s Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8 are particularly susceptible to damage… owing to a combination of their complex modern materials, lack of a traditional coating layer, and intensity of flat color fields, which make even the smallest areas of damage instantly perceptible.”
“Rothko’s mixture of pigments and resins and glues were quite complex,” notes art expert Jonny Helm.
What’s particularly galling about this situation is that $56 million seems like an awful lot to pay for what essentially looks like three colored rectangles that a kindergartner could recreate with a $5 paint set from Walmart. Yet here we are, with art experts fretting over scratches on blocks of color that somehow constitute high art. The museum has stated they are “currently researching the next steps for the treatment of the painting” and expect “that the work will be able to be shown again in the future.” Of course, no mention of exactly how much this restoration will cost taxpayers.
A Pattern of Precious Art Meets Public Peril
This isn’t the first time a Rothko painting has fallen victim to damage. Art expert Jonny Helm noted, “Rothko works seem to have terrible luck – this isn’t the first damaged Rothko we’ve heard about.” In 2012, a Rothko mural was deliberately vandalized at London’s Tate Modern by a man who later claimed he was making a statement about elitism in the art world. That incident required 18 months of painstaking restoration work. Apparently, multi-million dollar rectangles of color need more protection than our nation’s borders these days.
“We are currently researching the next steps for the treatment of the painting. We expect that the work will be able to be shown again in the future.” said the museum in a statement.
The incident raises serious questions about the wisdom of making delicate, unprotected artworks accessible to the public – especially children. While fine art insurance typically covers accidental damage, the museum has previously billed visitors for damages to other artworks. In 2011, a visitor who damaged “Pindakaasvloer” by Wim T. Schippers received a bill from the museum. It remains unclear whether the parents of the child responsible for the Rothko incident will face similar financial consequences, or if the taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill for what amounts to a very expensive scratch repair.
