Whilst watching the recent news, it was brought to my attention that a man who was visiting a gallery, thought it would be a great idea to punch a Monet painting that was worth an estimated £8million. After further research online, I discovered that the man was actually jailed for his wrong-doing, and I also found out how they restored the damaged painting.
The Daily Mail (Mail Online) states that Andrew Shannon, aged 49, entered the gallery back in 2012 in a calm manner, and claims that he 'collapsed' onto the painting due to a heart condition, although witness say that he clearly used his fist. He has been jailed for six years out of a maximum of ten and has been banned from entering all galleries.
What truly shocked me was that art was protected in such a way that if damaged, you could be sent to jail for it.
After two years, the painting has finally been able to be repaired by finely sewing the tears back together with the same material that the painting was on, and then after collecting all the tiny, microscopic fragments that fell from the painting when hit, they carefully placed those back onto the painting after hours of research into the painting. This site explains how.
This gives artists a sense of security in a way, to know that their artwork will always be protected when on display, and to know that whoever damages it could get sent to jail for such a crime. How has it affected me? Well, I know that I won't be going round punching paintings anytime soon! (Not that I would anyway…)
No comments:
Post a Comment