Mishap
Gauguin Gets Caked
A red velvet cake nobody ordered
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Image: Unsplash
Incident ReportCOA / MISHAPS
Accidental Damage Rating
- Repair Cost
- None (protected)
- Curator's Blood Pressure
- 73%
- Embarrassment Level
- 6/10
- Recovered?
- Unharmed
- Selfie Involved?
- No
A woman smeared a freshly baked red velvet cake across the protective glass of Gauguin's 'Two Tahitian Women', declaring the artwork 'evil'.
In 2011 Gauguin's painting was hanging quietly in Washington when a visitor approached carrying a cake and, without warning, smeared it across the surface while announcing that the work represented evil.
The painting, protected by its glazing, was unharmed. Conservators found themselves cleaning frosting rather than oil paint — a far happier assignment than it might have been.