Mishap
A Ballerina Meets Climate Protest
Paint on the case, but not on the wax
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Image: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Incident ReportCOA / MISHAPS
Accidental Damage Rating
- Repair Cost
- None (sealed case)
- Curator's Blood Pressure
- 74%
- Embarrassment Level
- 3/10
- Recovered?
- Unharmed
- Selfie Involved?
- No
A climate activist in a fluorescent vest smeared red and black paint over Degas' 'Little Dancer Aged Fourteen' — but the sculpture sat safely inside a sealed display case.
In April 2023 an activist entered the National Gallery of Art and covered Degas' beloved wax dancer with paint. Fortunately the figure was protected inside a sealed case, and the original suffered no damage.
The protest was part of a growing international campaign in which activists targeted iconic works — not to destroy them, they argued, but to force public attention onto the climate crisis. Increasingly, museums have become unwilling stages for political theatre.