Despite this, Monet decided that he was not satisfied with his work and in a sudden move destroyed all the paintings with a knife and a paint brush. [41], In 2007, vandals broke into the Orsay Museum in Paris in the early morning, set off the alarm and damaged the painting Bridge at Argenteuil by Claude Monet. Genocide is the intentional destruction of a group of people. The inscription accompanying the Congolese group notes: "De dank der Congolezen aan Leopold II om hen te hebben bevrijd van de slavernij onder de Arabieren" ("The gratitude of the Congolese to Leopold II for having liberated them from slavery under the Arabs"). • The deliberate destruction of schools, cultural places, and institutions representing free speech and freedom of opinion as well as the deliberate targeting of journalists and professionals dedicated to reinforcing these values, which bears witness to a coherent strategy … The destruction of the monumental Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan by the Taliban in 2001 eventually resulted in the adoption of the Declaration concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO General Conference (2003 UNESCO Declaration). Iconoclasm is the general destruction of a type of work of art for religious or ideological reasons. United States v. 23(g) prohibiting destruction of enemy’s property unless “impera-tively demanded by the necessities of war”. The main focus of vandalism for the statue has been decapitation. [45], Hans-Joachim Bohlmann (1937–2009) was a German serial vandal. Intentional destruction during armed conflict presents difficult problems, and Mali has asked the international community for concrete assistance. [60][61], During the George Floyd protests, the public sculpture Serve & Protect in Salt Lake City's Public Safety Building was vandalized. The prevalence of lipstick-related incidents of vandalism has lead some museums to require guests to remove their makeup before entering the museum, although this practice has remained highly controversial. [23][24][25], On 17 February 2014, a local Floridian artist, Maximo Caminero, destroyed a coloured vase by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in protest at the Pérez Art Museum Miami's lack of displays by local artists. Shafrazi was ostensibly protesting Richard Nixon's pardon of William Calley for the latter's actions during the My Lai massacre. An exhibition was set up for May of that year with paintings by Claude Monet, which had already been praised by critics and were estimated at $100,000 (1908 prices). The term vandalisme was coined in 1794 by Henri Grégoire, bishop of Blois, to describe the destruction of artwork following the French Revolution. The guards managed to quickly dilute it with water so that it penetrated only the varnish layer, and the painting was restored again.[52][55]. Genocide occurred in Guatemala in 1981-1983 because the Mayans demanded to be part of the Guatemalan government. For unintentional damage, see, 5 schilderijen in Rijksmuseum zijn beschadigd door onbekenden A'dam: schilderij "De heilige Familie van Lorenzo Costa is het meest beschadigd. In July 1987, a man named Robert Cambridge entered the National Gallery in London with a sawn-off shotgun concealed under his coat. The term aesthetic object, however, is ambiguous, and, depending on its interpretation, may suggest two separate programs of philosophical aesthetics. [19], On 14 September 1991, a "deranged" man attacked the statue David by Michelangelo with a hammer he had concealed under his jacket,[20] damaging the toes of the left foot before being restrained. In 2004, an activist group cut off the hand of the leftmost Congolese bronze figure, in protest against the atrocities committed in the Congo. After the event, he was identified with a mental disorder; he was sent to a psychiatric hospital and committed suicide there on 21 April 1976. [35], In 1996 Canadian multi-media artist Jubal Brown vandalised Raoul Dufy's Harbor at le Havre in the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, and Piet Mondrian's Composition With Red and Blue in the Museum of Modern Art in New York by deliberately vomiting primary colors on them. On 10 March 1914, militant suffragette Mary Richardson walked into the National Gallery of London and attacked Diego Velázquez's painting Rokeby Venus with a meat cleaver. [13] In a statement to the Women's Social and Political Union shortly afterwards, Richardson explained, "I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the Government for destroying Mrs. Pankhurst, who is the most beautiful character in modern history". [16], In 1986, a man "wishing to take revenge on abstract art" cut with a knife the painting Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III by Barnett Newman. Fortunately, the most important details of the work, that is, heads and hands of the tzar and his son, were unharmed. In November 2007, Sam was convicted and ordered to pay €1,000 to the painting's owner, €500 to the Avignon gallery that showed it, and €1 to the painter. Regardless of the intentional nature of the cause precipitating damage to personal, non-military property, in the absence of evidence that the destruction or damage was the intended result of the accused, a conviction under this portion of Article 109 is not supported. More than 14 Gustav Klimt masterpieces burned in a fire set by retreating SS forces at Immendorf Castle in May 1945[citation needed], threw acid at the Louvre museum's Mona Lisa, a terror suspect attacked guards of the Louvre with machetes, List of films featuring the destruction of art and cultural heritage, "Attack at the Louvre: the tourist was a terrorist", Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites in Saudi Arabia, Looting and burning of the Summer Palaces, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Art_destruction&oldid=990813867, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, It is estimated that tens of thousands of works of. The entire central part of the composition was virtually destroyed. Professor Marc-André Renold: It is the first case where the charge is intentional destruction … "[8], On 16 January 1913, a 29-year-old iconographer Abram Balashev attacked the painting Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan by Ilya Repin in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Motivated purposes of art refer to intentional, conscious actions on the part of the artists or creator. The act of despoiling or plundering. [27], In 1912, a young woman kissed the forehead, eyes and nose of a portrait by François Boucher in the Louvre. The pellets did not penetrate the protective glass, but shattered it, and the splinters caused significant damage to the artwork. (‘the cultural heritage of all humanity’) by criminalising the intentional destruction of cultural heritage. [1] More visible acts of vandalism were premeditated, as the tool of destruction – a knife, paint, acid or hammer – was intentionally brought to the scene. A vast amount of damage consists of leaving a minor scratch, a stuck chewing gum, a pencil mark and so on, and usually escapes publicity. As Bokova writes, "[d]estroying culture hurts societies for the long term….Warlords know this. Works of art may also be destroyed by natural disasters. He pulled the painting off the wall, stomping on it several times. Part 6, 10648/ab7a20fc-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84, The conservation history of the Portland Vase, "Inglorious Restorations. Destroying Old Masterpieces in Order to Save Them.". [3], In 1974, Tony Shafrazi wrote "KILL LIES ALL" with red spray paint over the work Guernica by Pablo Picasso. [46], Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci has long been attracting vandals and is currently one of the best-protected artworks. Examples: Lose the ability to communicate (Babel). [4], On 15 June 1985, Rembrandt's 17th-century painting Danaë was attacked in the Hermitage Museum in Russia. Art destruction involves the damaging or destruction of works of art. The term originated from the invasion of Rome in 455 by the East Germanic tribe of Vandals, which resulted in destruction of numerous artworks, and was quickly adopted across Europe. A former Davie, Florida resident was sentenced to seven years in prison for intentionally damaging a protected computer belonging to his former employer and making unauthorized purchases with credit card numbers belonging to others. [44] The restoration saw 7% of the damaged area being lost, in a process that involved sewing microscopic threads back together. In December 2012, the statue was put on Interpol’s “The Most Wanted Works of Art” poster, and in May 2012, Interpol also called for vigilance about the looting of ancient mosaics in Syria (photograph from 2009, courtesy of D. Osseman). 1. [6], In 1997, Alexander Brener painted a green dollar sign on Kazimir Malevich's painting Suprematisme. On June 13 2012, Uriel Landeros spray painted a bull and a matador and wrote "Conquista" with black spray paint over the work Woman in a Red Armchair by Pablo Picasso. I view my act as a dialogue with Malewitz. What does spoliation mean? [28][29], In 1998, the painting "Bathtub" by Andy Warhol, estimated to be worth several hundred thousand dollars, was kissed by a vandal during a party at the museum. The cross is a symbol of suffering, the dollar sign a symbol of trade and merchandise ... What I did was not against the painting. The intentional act, originally claimed to be accidental, resulted in the destruction of 500 doses of the potentially life-saying vaccine. The destruction or looting of sites and objects of cultural significance, especially when intentional, can create lasting resentments and obstacles to peace. The day before, de Rijk had been turned away from the museum because he arrived after closing time. terror suspect attacked guards of the Louvre museum with machetes, The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist, Art theft and looting during World War II, Art attacks: From pissing in Duchamp's 'Fountain' to defacing a Rothko, "Attack at the Louvre: the tourist was a terrorist", Scene of Blood, or how Ilya Repin killed Tsarevich Ivan. Defendant Sentenced for Intentional Destruction of Data, Credit Card Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft. During the court case, he said in his defense:[7]. [21] The samples obtained from that incident helped scientists determine that the marble used was obtained from the Fantiscritti quarries in Miseglia, the central of three small valleys in Carrara. “Intentional destruction” is defined as “an act intended to destroy in whole or in part cultural heritage, thus compromising its integrity, in a manner which constitutes a violation of international law or an unjustifiable offence to the principles of humanity and dictates of public conscience”. Here, rather, episodes of iconoclasm as defined by the destruction or damage to images and texts already in use will be considered, and the examples derive from the New Kingdom, ca. On 8 March 2006, green paint was poured over the statue and a dildo was attached to its hand. But the destruction of culture — above and beyond the other, more obvious harms of conflict — can also pose a distinct threat to the health of people living through atrocities. Vandalism of art is intentional damage of an artwork. [30], On 19 July 2007, police arrested artist Rindy Sam after she kissed the all-white canvas of Phaedrus by Cy Twombly, leaving a red lipstick mark. [36], In January 1998, vandals poked holes in two paintings by Henri Matisse, Pianist with Checkers Players (1924) and The Japanese Woman (1901), exhibited in the Capitoline Museums. The property of religious, charitable and educational institutions, and of art and science, even when state property, are assimilated to private property, and all seizure of, and destruction or intentional damage done to such institutions, to historical monuments, works of art or science is prohibited (Art. The use of bulletproof glass has shielded the Mona Lisa from more recent attacks. A 37-year-old drunken man grabbed a metal stand and repeatedly hit the painting, shattering its protection glass, seriously damaging the original wooden frame, and tearing the central part of the canvas. 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