Mishap
She Kiss the Art and She Liked it
An 'act of love' the French courts declined to forgive
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Image: Unsplash
Incident ReportCOA / MISHAPS
Accidental Damage Rating
- Repair Cost
- Professional conservation
- Curator's Blood Pressure
- 82%
- Embarrassment Level
- 7/10
- Recovered?
- Restored
- Selfie Involved?
- No
Artist Rindy Sam kissed Cy Twombly's near-white 'Phaedrus', leaving a lipstick mark that required conservation. She called it an act of love; the court called it damage.
Some visitors admire art from a respectful distance. Rindy Sam preferred rather less. At an Avignon exhibition in 2007 she leaned in and kissed Twombly's almost entirely white canvas, leaving a smear of lipstick behind.
Sam described the kiss as an act of love. The French courts were unmoved, convicting her of voluntarily damaging a work of art and ordering her to pay damages to the artist and the museum. The painting survived. The romance did not. We kinda like it?