A child has accidentally damaged a painting worth up to €50 million ($57 million) by the American artist Mark Rothko at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. The artwork, titled “Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8,” suffered superficial scratches during an “unguarded moment,” according to the museum’s spokesperson.
The museum stated that the damage is limited to “small scratches visible in the unvarnished paint layer in the lower part of the painting.” Conservation experts in the Netherlands and abroad are currently assessing the next steps for the treatment of the painting. “We expect that the work will be able to be shown again in the future,” the spokesperson added. Sophie McAloone, the conservation manager at the Fine Art Restoration Company, noted the vulnerability of modern unvarnished paintings like Rothko’s due to “their complex modern materials, lack of a traditional coating layer, and intensity of flat color fields.” As a result, even minor damage can significantly affect the artwork’s appearance.
The painting was part of an exhibition in the museum’s Depot, a publicly accessible storage facility showcasing “public favorites” from the gallery’s collection. The incident raises questions about the safety protocols for displaying high-value artworks in such settings. Restoring a Rothko is especially challenging due to the artist’s complex mixture of pigments, resins, and glues, and the fact that the painting is unvarnished.
Child’s mishap at museum exhibit
Conservators are now likely documenting the extent of the damage and researching historical treatments of Rothko paintings for guidance. This is not the first time a Rothko painting has been damaged.
In 2012, Rothko’s “Black On Maroon” at London’s Tate Modern gallery was defaced, requiring 18 months and significant effort to repair. Rachel Myrtle, Head of Specie and Fine Arts at Aon, explained that fine art insurance policies typically cover accidental damages, including those caused by children. A specialist fine art loss adjuster would assess the damage, examine any available CCTV footage, and determine conservation options.
The museum has previously billed visitors who damage artworks, as with the case in 2011 when a visitor accidentally stepped on Wim T. Schippers’ “Pindakaasvloer,” a peanut butter floor artwork. Rothko’s “Grey, Orange on Maroon, No.
8” is an example of color field painting, characterized by large blocks of flat, solid color. Such incidents of damage to modern art are not uncommon, reflecting both the fragility and public interest in contemporary works.
