Look, it could happen to anyone. Probably. But if there isn’t already a word that captures museum or gallery anxiety, where you accidentally trip and fall into Starry Night or something, then perhaps now is the time.
Behold this seemingly innocuous 12-year-old boy meandering with his mother on a guided tour at an art exhibition in Taiwan over the weekend. Yes, he appears to be drinking some sort of carbonated beverage, but try not to hold that against him. Mostly because his day is about to get pretty bad very fast, as he, somewhat inexplicably, manages to lose his balance in the direction of the 17th century Paolo Porpora oil painting Flowers. Rather than fall face first into the painting valued at $1.5 million, the boy sticks his hand out to stop his fall, poking a hole the size of a fist in the piece of art.
“Oh man, that just happened,” one’s internal monologue presumably goes when something this ludicrously bad happens to you.
I’m not sure which emoji sums up what this poor kid is feeling, but don’t worry, I’ll find it. The kid momentarily plays it all very cool, takes a sip of his drink, as if he might just be able to stroll out of this mishap if he does it very slowly. But no. Busted. Big time.
Thankfully, the organizers of the event appear to have taken pity on the kid. From Focus Taiwan News Channel:
According to [the exhibition organizer], the boy was very nervous, but [Andrea] Rossi [curator of the exhibition], asked that the boy not be blamed and that the family not be asked to pay for the cost of the restoration… the organizers will ask the insurance company to cover restoration costs and compensate the owner of the painting.
