Abstract art. Real damage.
A 20-year-old man attacked and damaged a $26 million Pablo Picasso painting at a London museum, according to a report.
Shakeel Ryan Massey was charged with criminal damage for Saturday’s incident at Tate Modern.
The masterpiece was identified in local media as “Bust of a Woman.”
A spokesperson for the gallery said a visitor vandalized the painting and was “swiftly apprehended.”
The extent of the damage was unclear. The BBC reported the painting was ripped.
The spokesperson wouldn’t comment on the work’s condition.
The 75-year-old oil painting depicts one of Picasso’s lovers, the photographer Dora Maar, in a semi-abstract style, wearing a hat and green clothing while sitting on a black metal chair.
It was completed in Paris in May 1944, during the final months of the Nazi occupation, after several of the Spanish master’s friends were arrested and deported.
“‘Bust of a Woman’ and its associated series captures this complex moment of fear and hope that would lead Picasso to join the Communist Party in October 1944,” reads Tate’s description of the painting.
The work was removed from display and was being inspected by a conservation expert.
According to Tate’s website, the painting has been on long-term loan from a private collection since 2011.
Massey, of northwest London, was held without bail Monday at his hearing in Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court.
The suspect indicated he would deny the charge.
He’s due in Inner London Crown Court Jan. 30 for a pretrial hearing.
The incident comes after a famed Mark Rothko painting worth around $11 million was vandalized at Tate Modern in 2012.
Polish national Vladimir Umanets, then 26, wrote his name and a screed about the visual movement Yellowism on 1958’s “Black on Maroon.”
He claimed he was making an artistic statement.
He was sentenced to two years in prison.
Tate conservators painstakingly peeled off each of Rothko’s layers of paint before removing the graffiti pen stain and reapplying paint.
The work was put back up on display in 2014.
Tate Modern was the most-visited tourist attraction in Britain in 2018, welcoming nearly 5.9 million people.
The museum, on the banks of the River Thames, offers several free exhibitions and has a diverse collection of works from around the world.
With Post wires