Taiwanese Boy Punches a Hole on $1.5 Million Painting
A 12-year-old Taiwanese boy tripped and held out his hand as he attempted to break his fall, causing a hole on a $1.5 million painting in a Leonardo Da Vinci-themed Taipei Art Exhibit.
"The boy was probably too concentrated in listening to what the guide was saying, and therefore stumbled," explained one of the exhibit's organizers Sun Chi-hsuan.
The Guardian reported the painting at Huashan 1914 creative arts center in Taipei was a 17th-century work of Paolo Porpora, an Italian Baroque artist. It was an oil canvass entitled "Flowers" and was approximately 350 years old.
Fortunately, the boy and his family would not be paying a single cent for the restoration of the ruined painting, thanks to the center's insurance coverage.
"I'm actually thinking of asking the boy back to be a volunteer in the exhibition for one day as a penalty," said Sun.
Currently, the painting with a fist-sized hole is being restored by experts.
"We will begin the restoration work by ... mending the part that was torn on the back," stated an expert in fine art restoration, Leo Tsai. "We will then turn to restoring the paints on the front side."
Andrea Rossi, a curator in the exhibit, was extremely shocked upon hearing the boy's accident and the hole left on the painting.
"When I told the curator, he was so shocked that for two to three minutes he couldn't utter a single word," recalled Sun. "But he was actually most worried that the boy and his family would put too much pressure on themselves."
The organizers of the exhibit were given permission by the curator to allow guests to come close to the artworks, then the accident happened. This could be a good thing though because the number of guests increased after hearing about it. Meanwhile, the restricted area for each painting was extended to avoid further accidents.
"This is a one-off accident," assured Sun. "I believe if viewers are placed so far away in the distance that the paintings won't be destroyed if someone stumbles, they won't be able to appreciate the paintings to the full extent."
