Child damages $56 million Rothko painting by scratching its underside
A child in the Netherlands damaged a painting from abstractionist Mark Rothko worth $56 million (P3.1 billion) during a visit to the Bojimans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.
PEOPLE Magazine reported that the child damaged the Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8 painting from 1960 after he "touched the painting when it was on display," the museum told the publication.
"As a result, small scratches are visible in the unvarnished paint layer in the lower part of the painting," the museum added.
The museum said conservation expertise has been sought in the Netherlands and abroad, and is 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," it added.
In an interview with The Times, the museum said the damage "was caused by a child who scratched the underside of the work in an unguarded moment."
It didn't name the child, and it declined to comment on who's responsible for the cost of the damage.
"Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen provides no information on the valuation of the painting, the possible costs associated with the conservation of the painting or the further handling of this matter," it said, adding that it won't release photos of the damage.
Curator Saskia van Kampen-Prein, in an Instagram video from the museum, described Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8 as “a meditative and striking color landscape."
Rothko, who was born in Latvia and emigrated to the United States, died in 1970.
Associated with abstract expressionism, he's known for his color field paintings depicting irregular and painterly rectangular regions of color.
