Works of Art

7 Times Someone (Accidentally) Ruined a Valuable Work of Art

“7 Times Someone (Accidentally) Ruined a Valuable Work of Art”

by Olivia B. Waxman via “Time”

Whoops.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reports that security camera footage appears to show a young man falling into and punching a hole through a painting said to be worth $1.5 million. Flowers, a 17th century oil painting and one of the few signed works by Italian master Paolo Porpora, was on display at “The Face of Leonardo, Images of a Genius” exhibition at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei, according to CNA.

Below is a glimpse at other reports of tourists being clumsy at museums:

• In May, two tourists reportedly broke off the crown atop “Statue of the Two Hercules,” which sits in Piazza del Comune, a medieval square in Cremona, Italy, when the pair allegedly tried to climb it and take photos.

• Also in May, the Greek Culture Ministry said a tourist tried to touch a prehistoric, Minoan-era vase at the Museum of Iraklio and knocked it over, suffering a minor leg injury.

• Last March, a student reportedly climbed onto a 19th century statue depicting a “Drunken Satyr” at Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan, Italy, to take a selfie and broke it.

• Last July, an American student got stuck inside Pi Chacan, a stone sculpture of a vagina by Peruvian artist Fernando de la Jara, which sat in front of Tübingen University’s Institute for Microbiology and Virology in Germany.

• In 2006, a man was arrested for smashing three 17th century Chinese porcelain vases said to be worth £500,000 (about $789,000) at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. . . . .

“Art Exhibits for the Selfie Set”

by Richard Morgan via “Wall Street Journal“

“Carmelle Fernandez came down to Chelsea from the north Bronx with her cousin to stand in front of a pair of 18-feet-tall wooden characters. She asked a fellow visitor to Mary Boone Gallery to photograph them in similar poses as the sculptures—a shot destined for Instagram, Ms. Fernandez, a 30-year-old office assistant, said.

“It just makes you feel like you’re part of it,” she said. “It’s just fun. I think a lot of people take these photos. It’s hard not to.”

The exhibit, of sculptures and paintings by the artist KAWS, isn’t . . . .”

Out of curiosity, how long until the selfies themselves are considered works of art? I fully expect an exhibition to appear within the next 1-2 years focusing on the “best selfies” or “selfies that tell a story” theme. It is a surprisingly important part of modern culture–the obsession with oneself and one’s own interaction with the world as opposed to merely appreciating the works and experiences of others. That being said, this is a great way to involve otherwise un-interested audiences in the arts.

Musings on Arthur Pinajian

I had never heard of Arthur Pinajian before I read the Telegraph’s article, but I find myself fascinated with his art. Pinajian lived through two world wars and the great depression, born in 1914 during WWI and surviving until 1999, the end of the century. (1) Kurt Vonnegut’s novelic work “Bluebeard: The Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian,“ actually retells the story of Pinajian’s life, whose real life was really very private. (1) He was one of the great heroes of WWII, but he soon surrendered weapons for more artistic tools, when he began as a comic book artist for Marvel (3). However, Pinajian found himself more readily drawn to the abstractionist style of art and he eventually move to Long Island, fading into obscurity for the remainder of his life. (1) Pinajian another of the many artists more appreciated upon death than during life, and thousands of his paintings remained buried in garages and boxes until as late as the last decade. (2)

: The Artist: Arthur Pinajian

Typically, I am not overly fond of abstract art, in fact I don’t particularly like the painting shown at the top of The Telegraph’s article. However, in several of his works, Pinajian successfully pulls together both abstraction and realism. I appreciate how his works depict landscapes through simple brush strokes and vibrant mixed colors. He utilizes the coloring beautifully to depict contrast and depth, without losing any of the meaning which I feel so much abstract art does. Here are my particular favorites: