A rare Picasso painting at New York’ City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art was damaged with a 6-inch tear when an art lover lost her balance and stumbled into the $80 million work of art. The unidentified woman was attending an adult education class last week when she lost her balance and fell against The Actor, damaging the lower right corner, the Met said in a statement. The museum said the tear did not occur “in a focal point of the composition” and could be repaired in time for an April display of 250 works of art by the painter at the Met. The painting, which measures 6 feet by 4 feet, was completed by Picasso in 1905.
Another Picasso painting was damaged when Casino mogul Stephen Wynn, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, an eye disease that has damaged his peripheral vision, put his elbow through his beloved painting, Picasso’s 1932 ‘Le Reve’ in 2006. At the time Wynn was reportedly ready to sell the work for $139 million even though he had at one point considered naming his hotel after it (instead the name went to a show at the resort). This work was also the victim of a six-inch tear, this one in a more obvious place, the left forearm of the figure. Wynn took the incident as a sign and did not sell the painting. After a $90,000 repair, the painting was evaluated to be worth $85 million.
