Florida woman crashes Rolls-Royce into Damien Hirst sculpture
A woman local to Palm Beach, Florida, has crashed into a Damien Hirst sculpture estimated to be worth $3million. She reportedly drove her Rolls-Royce through the backyard of collector and Museum of Modern Art trustee Steven Tananbaum.
According to Palm Beach Daily News, the 66-year-old behind the wheel of the luxurious sedan veered from the road, careering towards the $3m artwork in Tananbaum’s coastal garden. Images shared by the Palm Beach Police show what appears to be the 2017 sculpture Hirst’s Sphinx forced from its stone base onto the grass. The damage, fortunately, appears to be limited to a chip and scrape on the Sphinx’s rump.
The sculpture was part of Hirst’s lauded Treasures From the Wreck of the Unbelievable exhibition, which aired during the 2017 Venice Biennale. The collection of statues was intended to appear slightly worn, as if recovered from an abandoned shipwreck, and was adorned with coral, barnacles, urchins and other marine life. The fictional backstory for the collection told that the sculptures had been recovered off the coast of East Africa.
After dethroning the Sphinx, the Rolls-Royce continued through the garden towards the sea. As the car reached a sea wall, the front two wheels dropped to the sand, leaving the car suspended with its hind wheels against the wall. The driver emerged from the car unscathed and reportedly recalls very little from the hours leading up to the incident, despite no signs of intoxication.
