A child in the Netherlands destroyed a P3.1 billion Rothko painting while visiting the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam. According to PEOPLE Magazine, the child destroyed Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8 from 1960 when he touched the painting while it was on display.
As a result, there were scratches in the unvarnished paint layer on the lower part of the painting. The museum said it was consulting with experts to determine the next steps in care of the painting, and it hopes to have it on display again in the future.
The museum did not name the child nor did they say who was responsible for the cost of the damage. The museum said it would not provide a valuation of the painting or possible costs for its conservation, nor photos of the damage.
According to Curator Saskia van Kampen-Prein, the painting Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8 is a "meditative and striking color landscape," an art that displays large amounts of color. Mark Rothko, who was born in Latvia and moved to the US, died in 1970 and is known for his color field paintings that display irregular rectangular areas of color.
