Museum visitor breaks crystal-covered Van Gogh-inspired chair
A museum visitor has broken a crystal-covered sculpture, inspired by the famous Vincent Van Gogh chair, by sitting on it.
The piece, called Van Gogh Chair and created by artist Nicola Bolla, had been on display at the Palazzo Maffei museum in Verona, Italy, when a visitor decided to take a seat on the ornate chair, covered in thousands of Swarovski crystals, and subsequently broke its legs.
According to Artnet, the incident happened in April when a middle-aged couple were attempting to take a selfie with the piece. After a security guard, who was present to protect the sculpture, left the room, the man sat on the chair, and it buckled under his weight.
Afterwards, the pair quickly fled the museum without alerting any staff as to what had happened. Subsequently, Italian police have now released CCTV footage of the incident in an attempt to identify the couple.
Vanessa Carlon, the director of the museum, told the BBC: “Sometimes we lose our brains to take a picture, and we don’t think about the consequences. Of course it was an accident, but these two people left without speaking to us — that isn’t an accident. This is a nightmare for any museum.”
However, thankfully the museum have subsequently been able to restore the piece, with them owing “heartfelt thanks” to all those whose “precious work allowed the work to be recovered.”
Bolla’s crystal sculpture was inspired by the famous chair depicted in the prolific Dutch painter’s Yellow House work in Arles, France, which became one of his best-known still life pieces.
By sharing the story of the incident, the museum said it hoped to prevent any such incidents from occurring again in the future.
