accidentally destroyed a piece of art worth more than $1 million when she
removed what she thought was a "stain" from the installation. Spoiler alert: It
wasn't really a stain.
piece of art
, titled "When It Starts Dripping From The Ceilings," features aseries of wooden planks and a (formerly) discolored plastic bowl. The artist,
the late Martin Kippenberger,
intended for viewers to understand that the bowl had been discolored by water
running over the pieces of wood.
Unfortunately, the bowl isn't so discolored anymore. A spokesperson from the
art museum in Dortmund, Germany, remarked that "it is now impossible to return
it to its original state." The cleaner was apparently unaware that she was
supposed to stay at least 20 centimeters away from the works of art.
Kippenberger died at the age of 43 in 1997, but he left behind a large
collection of work. Roberta Smith of the New York Times said
he was "widely regarded as one of the most talented German artists of his
generation." Like many of the greats, his work has grown more valuable since his
death. In 2005, a Kippenberger painting went for more
than $1 million.
So far, there's been no word on whether the cleaning woman will be in any
legal or financial trouble for her mistake. The piece of art was on loan to the
museum from a private collector, who will probably think twice before lending
out any more million-dollar pieces of art. According
to the AP, insurance adjusters are currently "assessing the damage." It'll
be up to the owner to decide whether to approve an effort to restore the piece
to something resembling its original state, or just leave it as
is.
[This will cost the insurance company, while the "art-owners" will come out of it far richer. Can we be sure they didn't put the cleaning lady up to it?? -cy)