December 31, 2019

A 20-year-old man has ripped Picasso's "Bust of a Woman."



"Man charged over damage to £20m Picasso at Tate Modern/Bust of a Woman was reportedly ripped while gallery was open to public on Saturday" (The Guardian).

Attacking artwork is a strange crime. Here's an article from last October in ArtNews, "What Makes Someone Attack a Work of Art? Here Are 9 of the Most Audacious Acts of Art Vandalism—and What Inspired Them." The reasons vary. There's objection to the work of art, that it's something that shouldn't be regarded as art (e.g, the simple modern Barnett Newman painting that seemed, to its attacker, like something a child could do) or opposition to the perceived message in the art (e.g., a suffragette chopping a meat-cleaver into the ass of a Velázquez nude). There's using the art to leverage another message (for example, treating a sculpture with a big flat surface as a sort of billboard for anti-Semitic graffiti). There is sheer lunacy (such as slashing Rembrandt's "Night Watch" "for the Lord").

58 comments:

mockturtle said...

What can we speculate about a man named Shakeel?

rhhardin said...

Take the cut out piece and reattach it anywhere.

Narr said...

Religious zealotry is a biggie.

Narr
This is a test

Darrell said...

Why would someone deface a portrait of Hillary Clinton wearing two baseball hats?

Shane said...

There's self-attention...

Kevin said...

I had always said, if you want to truly hit the West, don't fly planes into the World Trade Center or the Pentagon, fly them into the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery. I think the islamists understood this, which is why they do attack art when they can, like those huge statues in Afghanistan prior to 9/11.

I'm just surprised that they still haven't hit them. They remain relatively soft targets.

Michael K said...

Most, I suspect, are crazy.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

This is something that shouldn't be regarded as a £20m work of art.

Jupiter said...

Don't let's forget those who tear down statues.

Krumhorn said...

His name is Shakeel. He may may have entirely different motives.

Okay, call me a bigot

- Krumhorn

Bob Boyd said...

It could have been worse.
Picassos are always near the top of any list of paintings least likely to be adversely affected by slashing.

gspencer said...

Are we really worse off?

rcocean said...

Why is the word "audacious" used to describe vandalism? "Audacity" is often a synonym for "courage" which people regard as a virtue. Why not the 10 most horrific acts? I think reason is that subconsciously - or perhaps consciously - the SJW/Left approves of Art vandalism - when art they dislike is being destroyed or damaged.

rcocean said...

Bob Boyd: Most "modern" art - particularly abstract art - is easily repaired since it usually represents nothing. One could put a big slash in a Jackson Pollack painting and no one would know the difference.

chuck said...

Didn't Picasso paint a million of those?

Beasts of England said...

Is the above image before or after the ripping?

Kevin said...

Attacking artwork is a strange crime.

Red MAGA hats are attacked all the time.

They never do anything to start it.

traditionalguy said...

Looks like we will soon have to put burqas on all paintings of women.

M Jordan said...

The Cultural Revolution of today has now reached the art destruction phase. I’ll be glad when the Red Guard finally turn on each other just as they did in China circa 1970.

Achilles said...

The leftists have a reason for importing their Muslim allies.

They are audacious.

robother said...

One man's performance art is another man's vandalism. If Picasso's art is intended to provoke, shouldn't the actions of those provoked be considered part of the art?

I thought Modernism was all about severing the connection between Art and the Sacred. Displaying Picasso in the same atmosphere of reverential silent contemplation as a medieval Madonna and Child is more profoundly insulting to the artist and his vision than the heart-felt reaction of the slasher, no?

Or is minimizing the Tate insurance premiums the new sacred? Is the only real meaning of this Picasso 20 million pounds?

dustbunny said...

Picasso seems to rile the mentally fragile. In a time when deliberately offensive art is often celebrated he seems pretty mild. It is always interesting to see where and for what reasons people are outraged by or in favor of destroying art. Islamicists tearing down monuments are regarded as ignorant and vile but those in favor of pulling down statues of the Confederacy are brave and true. I was against the destruction of statues of Stalin and Lenin, not because they were great art but historical reminders of hideous decisions.

mockturtle said...

The Cultural Revolution of today has now reached the art destruction phase. I’ll be glad when the Red Guard finally turn on each other just as they did in China circa 1970.

Yes but considerable damage had already been done.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

maybe "Shak the Ripper" thought it was a 'Bust of a Jewish Woman'

....unfortunately, lots of those kind of attacks lately

(but what happened to the guy who ATE the $120K Banana??)

BarrySanders20 said...

Maybe Skak attacked because:
1. He is sexually repressed and went expecting to see titties and was disappointed
2. He thought the Bust of a Woman was simply a bust and was angry at having been made the fool who paid money to see it

mockturtle said...

Picasso proved his artistic talent very early in his career and so earned the right to go to extreme weirdness later on.

mockturtle said...

"Shak the Ripper"

Love it.

Fernandinande said...

Are they sure it was damaged?

Josephbleau said...

I thought that the price of the banana was 125k to cover lifetime replacement every 5 days.

Narr said...

First they came for the Picassos, but I said nothing, because I hate that guy.

Next they came for the Van Goghs, but I said nothing, because that guy was crazy.

Then they came for the Nietzsche, but I said nothing, because that guy was crazy. And German.

They were planning hits on the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and US Grant statue but Putin tipped us off.

Of course, they better not even think about fucking with the Super Bowl.

Narr
Why don't we call it Iconoclasm?

Ralph L said...

I hadn't noticed that the Pieta Madonna has the body of a broad man, like most of his other women. You have to think it was intentional, in that case because Jesus wouldn't fit on a skinny woman's lap. I wonder if people talked about it in his lifetime. Even the priests knew women aren't built like that.

Krumhorn said...

Given the chance, I would have audaciously attacked the Piss Christ jar and the elephant dung Madonna much the same as I would anyone giving me the finger.

- Krumhorn

Yancey Ward said...

Why do vandals do vandalism- because it gets attention.

Earnest Prole said...

Lazlo Toth, a Hungarian-born Australian geologist, smashed Michelangelo’s Pietà with a hammer in 1972. "Toth was 33 years old at the time of the incident -- the same age as Jesus at the time of his death. According to bystanders, the unwell geologist shouted 'I am Jesus Christ—risen from the dead' before leaning over the protective railing and striking the sculpture of the Virgin Mary and figure of Christ with a dozen blows of a hammer."

Does anyone here know the connection between this incident and Saturday Night Live?

bagoh20 said...

It's kind of fortunate when something terrible happens, but nobody gets hurts, it has no effect on anybody I know, and the only people effected are some very wealthy with no concept of the value of money. I don't think we can call this a tragedy of any kind. Let's call it a "teaching moment".

bagoh20 said...

If nobody found out, and you could choose between one of these two occurrences today which would you prefer:

This Picasso vandalized, or you get a flat tire on the way home?
Remember, it's News Years Eve.

gerry said...

I thought Modernism was all about severing the connection between Art and the Sacred.

The Modernist weeping after the attack upon the painting: "The painting is damaged!"

The Post-modernist standing nearby: "No, it isn't."


(but what happened to the guy who ATE the $120K Banana??)

He took a shit.

Rory said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rory said...

"Does anyone here know the connection between this incident and Saturday Night Live?"

Arrivederci, America!

FWBuff said...

I'm surprised the list didn't include the repainting of the face of the suffering Christ by the well-meaning Spanish woman. There was a religious motive behind her act, as well.

Wince said...

A 20-year-old man has ripped Picasso's "Bust of a Woman."

Sounds like a real "Bodice Ripper".

walter said...

Considering the artist, the piece looked at the guy wrong.

ronalddewitt said...

I wonder if, in the vandal’s mind, the act of destroying an object puts the vandal at a level comparable to that of the object’s creator. This might also explain the attempts on the left to bring down Western Civilization.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"Defacing a Picasso"

...now there's some irony right there.

Like getting run over by an ambulance.

Mary Beth said...

(but what happened to the guy who ATE the $120K Banana??)

He took a shit.


If he ate only the one. Bananas can be constipating.

I read the linked artnet.com article. I thought it was sad that now people have to view the Pieta through bulletproof glass. On the other hand, I was kind of sympathetic towards the vase-breaking guy.

Iman said...

Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole.

Iman said...

"What can we speculate about a man named Shakeel?"

That his momma couldn't spell worth a damn...

Iman said...

"(e.g., a suffragette chopping a meat-clever into the ass of a Velázquez nude)."

Not very clever to use a cleaver...

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole.

you mean after he shortened his last name from 'Picassole'

walter said...

The elbow incident
"when the Las Vegas casino magnate and art collector was saying goodbye, "he accidentally whacked the masterpiece with his elbow, leaving a silver dollar-sized hole and scuttling the deal."

Anonymous said...

Ralph, Michelangelo was as they say a confirmed bachelor. He only ever mentioned one woman in all his surviving writing (Vittoria Colonna, not even his mom).

Anonymous said...

Ralph

Michelangelo was a confirmed bachelor as they used to say.
If you think that the figures of the Pieta look weird try those in the Medici Chapel in San Lorenzo Florence.

Iman said...

"you mean after he shortened his last name from 'Picassole' "

Olé !!!

Anchovy1214 said...

Maybe he liked good art.

Anchovy1214 said...

Maybe he likes good art.

ELC said...

I'd bet it was improved that way.

Sam L. said...

OOOOOOOhhhhhhh! Bad CRITIC.

Bunkypotatohead said...

If he had done it a year ago, they would have referred to him as a " teen".