A valuable painting by Mark Rothko was damaged by a child in the Netherlands. The artwork, titled "Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8," is believed to be worth tens of millions of pounds. It was on display in a storage facility next to the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam when the incident occurred.
According to a spokesperson for the museum, the child touched the painting during an unguarded moment, resulting in small scratches on the unvarnished paint layer at the lower part of the piece. The museum has reached out for conservation expertise both locally and internationally to determine the best way to treat the damage. They are hopeful that the painting can be displayed again in the future.
While the museum has not disclosed the current estimated value of the painting or the anticipated costs for repairs, Dutch art collector Bert Kreuk had previously estimated its worth to be between €40 million (£34 million) and €50 million (£42 million) three years ago.
Before the museum’s building closed for renovations, the Rothko painting was a centerpiece of the collection. Now, it is housed in a nearby art storage facility, which is open to the public.
Rothko, who was born in what is now Latvia in 1903 and later moved to the United States, is renowned for his color field paintings. Many of his works have fetched tens of millions at auction. This incident is reminiscent of a previous vandalism case involving Rothko’s "Black on Maroon" at London’s Tate Modern in 2012, where a man was sentenced to two years in prison for defacing the artwork. Repairing that piece took conservators 18 months and cost around £200,000.
The museum is currently assessing the situation and planning the next steps for the Rothko painting, hoping to restore it to its former glory.