Painting
1 by the American abstract
expressionist/
minimalist painter
Barnett Newman. This work became
infamous not so much for its
artistic value, but rather due to the
aftermath of a vandalistic
attack.
The painting itself is a huge (8 x 18 ft.) canvas that
consists of a red monochrome field, surrounded by a blue "zip" on one
end, and a yellow "zip" on the other end. A typical example of a
Minimalistic (some say "simplistic") painting. When it was
purchased by the Amsterdam Museum of Modern Art (Stedelijk Museum), it
generated a storm of protest. The Dutch generally are a critical bunch,
and they felt that this painting did not deserve the praise, the steep
purchase price or the valuable wall space in the museum. Much of this
attention was based on the fact that the Stedelijk Museum is a government
institution, and the purchase was accomplished by tax-payers' money.
Who's afraid... became part of the permanent exhibition of
the museum. It is understandable that the display of this work generated
some feelings of anger, or at least misunderstanding under visitors.
On 21 March 1986, these feelings took control of a mentally deranged
man, the (virtually unknown) Dutch painter Gerard Jan van
Bladeren2. He walked into the museum with a Stanley knife
and completely slashed open the canvas. The perpetrator was
arrested. In court, he explained that his act was an "ode to Carel
Willink", the Dutch Magic Realistic painter.
While museum directors were deciding what to do with the damaged
painting, the work was still on display. Some people jokingly claimed that the
painting was actually improved, or that the protruding shards of
canvas at least gave some depth to the painting. Nevertheless, the
museum decided to hire the New York based restorer Daniel Goldreyer
to repair the Newman painting for the hefty sum of $800,000.
As soon as the painting was returned to the museum in 1991, art
critics attacked the restoration job. Goldreyer had repaired the slash,
but then improperly retouched the paint. He was accused of using a
roller rather than a brush (as was originally used by Newman, and that he had used acrylic paints ("house
paints") instead of oil based paints. The painting had lost much of
its texture and subtle variations in color. According to the art
critics, the painting had been killed twice: once during the
attack, and again during the restoration.
The judicial crime laboratory indeed confirmed the accusations of the art
critics. The museum refused to pay the outstanding part of Goldreyer's
salary and prepared legal actions against Goldreyer. Then Goldreyer
filed a $125 million suit against the City of Amsterdam and
the Stedelijk Museum, claiming that his reputation was damaged. The
Stedelijk Museum in turn filed a $7 million damages suit against
Goldreyer.
The two law suits were in a deadlock for years, because of
differences between the American and Dutch legal system. Then in January
1997, both law suits were settled through the payment of $100,000 by the
City of Amsterdam to Goldreyer (and an agreement not to further
discuss the restoration or the legal case).
But there's more. G.J. van Bladeren, the deranged vandal
who started all this served his 8 month sentence (and 6 month
prohibition to visit the museum). On 21 November 1997, he walked into
the Stedelijk Museum unnoticed, again armed with a Stanley knife. He
proceeded to Cathedra, another painting by Barnett Newman, and
slashed it with five large horizontal cuts...
1:
Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow, and Blue III, 1966-67, oil on canvas, 96 x
214,
Stedelijk Museum,
Amsterdam
2: The Destruction of Art: Iconoclasm and Vandalism since
the French Revolution, Gary Schwartz