9 Other Pricey Art Mishaps

The art student who tripped and tore a hole in a Picasso painting is probably fairly embarrassed—but will, perhaps, feel better knowing others can sympathize. The Independent lists nine other art catastrophes, some accidental and some not:

• Cy Twombly: A woman kissed one of his paintings, leaving it smeared with lipstick—she said she was “just trying to warm up” the white canvas.
• Qing vase: A Cambridge museum visitor slipped down the stairs, possibly thanks to an untied shoelace, and smashed a set of 300-year-old vases.

• Picasso again: Casino owner Steve Wynn accidentally elbowed his own Picasso, Le Rêve.
• Piet Mondrian: A 22-year-old art student vomited over his Composition in Red, White and Blue. At first thought to be an accident, the student later said it was intentional—and did the same thing to a work by Raoul Dufy.
• Damien Hirst: A janitor mistook his installation, full of empty beer bottles and overflowing ash trays, for trash and threw it away—it was later recovered.

For the complete list, click here.
(More Pablo Picasso stories.)