A family visit to a Dutch art museum went south when an unsupervised child damaged a painting worth millions.
While visiting the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam, the child “scratched” the 1960 painting “Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8” by Mark Rothko, the museum stated.
“Rothko’s work has sustained damage: a number of visible scratches in the unvarnished paint layer,” read a museum statement reported by The Times, a British publication. “It was caused by a child who scratched the underside of the work in an unguarded moment.”
Dutch news outlet Algemeen Dagblad reported the painting is worth as much as €50 million (roughly $57 million).
According to the museum’s website, the oil painting is 7.5 feet high and 8.5 feet wide. It was purchased in 1970.
In March, the museum called the American artist’s “Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8” “a meditative and striking colour landscape” on Instagram.
ART News reported that the museum would not confirm the cost of the painting, nor will the public view the damages.
“Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen provides no information on the valuation of the painting, the possible costs associated with the conservation of the painting or the further handling of this matter. Images of the damage will not be circulated.”
The painting’s monetary value is estimated at more than $50 million.
“Ten abstract Rothko paintings, featuring his signature floating fields of color, have sold for north of $50 million at auction since 2008, according to the Artnet Price Database,” reported Artnet Magazine.
The record for a Rothko painting is $86.9 million, the 2012 auction price for the similarly sized “Orange, Red, Yellow” from 1961.
