After damaging a Picasso painting at London’s Tate Modern last year, a 20-year-old man has been sentenced to 18 months in jail. The 1944 work, titled Bust of a Woman, sustained up to £350,000 (about $462,100) worth of damage in the incident, according to a report by the Art Newspaper.
Shakeel Ryan Massey, who punched the painting valued at £20 million (about $26.4 million), had been charged with criminal damage on December 28. Massey had reportedly punched through the glass surrounding the artwork. The Evening Standard reports that Massey told a security guard at the museum that he was executing a “performance” as he threw the work to the floor.
Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.
Bust of a Woman, which was removed from view following the attack, will reportedly be restored over the course of the next 18 months. The painting was on long-term loan to the museum from a private collection, and it depicts the photographer Dora Maar, who led a romantic relationship with Picasso and was the subject of his some of his most works. Picasso created the piece in his studio at Rue des Grands-Augustins during the Nazi occupation of Paris.
Massey pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal damage and, according to the Evening Standard, Judge Jeremy Donne implored him to consider the “pain” he caused his family.
“I have concluded without hesitation the impact upon the public and the gravity of this offense, together with the need to deter others from this form of conduct requires the imposition of an immediate custodial sentence,” the judge reportedly said.
Tate Modern said in a statement, “We thank the court for their careful consideration of this case and have noted the outcome. The work is undergoing a period of conservation.”
Source: artnews.com