New York woman falls, rips Picasso painting

[one...two...tree 2,762]

NEW YORK (AFP) – A significant Pablo Picasso painting was damaged after a woman attending art class lost her balance, fell into "The Actor" and tore it, The Metropolitan Museum of Art said.

The unusually large canvas, measuring 77.25 by 45.38 inches (196 by 115 centimeters), sustained a vertical tear of about six inches (15 centimeters) in the lower right-hand corner in the accident on Friday.

The museum, located on the eastern edge of New York's Central Park, did not elaborate on why the woman fell.

But The Met said the damage did not impact the "focal point of the composition" and that it should be repaired in the coming weeks ahead of a major Picasso retrospective featuring some 250 works at the museum opening on April 27.

Repair work should be "unobtrusive," it added.

Painted in the winter of 1904-1905, the work hails from Picasso's critical Rose Period, when the artist shifted from the downbeat tones of his Blue Period to warmer, more romantic hues.

The period also hints at Picasso's later embrace of abstraction with his signature cubist style.

Donated to The Met by automobile heiress Thelma Chrysler Foy in 1952, "The Actor" features an acrobat striking a dramatic pose against an abstract backdrop. It was painted on a used canvas that already contained a painting.

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[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

The unusually large canvas, measuring 77.25 by 45.38 inches (196 by 115 centimeters), sustained a vertical tear of about six inches (15 centimeters) in the lower right-hand corner in the accident on Friday.

that's awful.

[Peikko 1,575]

Well, it is and it isn't. For experienced restorers, this rip is a snap. Once they are done, you'll never know it happened, except for this article

[Joseph & Ana 0]

#$@%$ I was hoping it was completely destroyed.

[Peikko 1,575]

Not an art lover either Joe? You really are a bit of a proletarian, and yet you call yourself a conservative?

Edited January 25, 2010 by Madame Cleo

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Not an art lover either Joe?

He's got a big poster of Pikachu on his bedroom wall if that counts.

[Danno 1,228]

He's got a big poster of Pikachu on his bedroom wall if that counts.

And you of course still have Che on yours.

[Safari 0]

really?

is that an original picasso piece?

were dan brown's movies a hoax?

[Niels Bohr 72]

Dam!

[Nagishkaw 510]

[Joseph & Ana 0]

Not an art lover either Joe? You really are a bit of a proletarian, and yet you call yourself a conservative?

I love art. I frequent the museums and have many of my college books still in my book shelves. I don't consider Picasso art, but to each his own.

Just like some of my friends back in the day would call comic books "art" and i'd tell them they were full of #%!@$^

But i knew you and yours would be predictable in your childish insults.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Joseph & Ana

[alienlovechild 75]

I saw the image on TV and didn't hear the story.

I thought it was another Obama inspired bit of artwork. Note the big ears.

[Joseph & Ana 0]

I saw the image on TV and didn't hear the story.

I thought it was another Obama inspired bit of artwork. Note the big ears.

He's really offended that you'd talk about his ears that way.

[Safari 0]

I saw the image on TV and didn't hear the story.

I thought it was another Obama inspired bit of artwork. Note the big ears.

in the country where i used to live, people have this superstitious belief that those who have big or long ears live long

[Peikko 1,575]

I love art. I frequent the museums and have many of my college books still in my book shelves. I don't consider Picasso art, but to each his own.

Just like some of my friends back in the day would call comic books "art" and i'd tell them they were full of #%!@$^

But i knew you and yours would be predictable in your childish insults.

I don't give a #### what you consider art and what you consider rubbish and, prole, that's not the point. What makes you a proletarian is your desire to destroy that which you do not understand, or for your sensiblities consider art, too bad, smart guy.