Museum Visitors Sit on and Crush “Van Gogh Chair”
A brazen act of … sitting? A pair of photo-stunting tourists collapsed Italian artist Nicola Bolla’s chair sculpture “Van Gogh” (2007—2008), which is decorated with hundreds of Swarovski crystals, at Verona’s Palazzo Maffei, according to surveillance footage shared by the museum.
The incident occurred in April, according to reports, but footage of the incident was not released until last Thursday, June 12. The video shows one visitor hovering over the crystal-coated artwork in a seated position while the other snapped a photo. The chair’s front legs appeared to snap, sending the tourist backward. The two individuals then proceeded to hurriedly walk out of the gallery. The faces of both tourists are blurred in the footage, and they have reportedly not been identified.
Bolla’s artwork, a tribute to the Dutch artist’s 1888 painting “Van Gogh’s Chair,” was restored and placed back on view at the museum as of June 12, the institution said on Facebook. Palazzo Maffei maintains a collection of 650 artworks, including objects from antiquity and contemporary periods.
In a statement to Hyperallergic, Bolla called the act an “idiotic gesture but also artistic, a performance.”
“Fundamentally art must somehow be protected from ignorance,” Bolla said. “But I can tell you that I am a very ironic person. I take the positive side of things that come to me in life, so I immediately saw the possibility of creating another work, probably also in crystals.” The piece, the artist explained, would be titled “Buster Keaton’s Chair,” after the 20th-century actor known for physical comedy and stunts.
“It reminded me of Czechoslovakian Cubism, which has furniture made like this, with all the legs bent,” Bolla said.
It is unclear which exhibition Bolla’s work was being shown in at the time of the damage. The journal Finestre sull’Arte described the artist as a conceptual sculptor who is also an eye doctor by profession. His other works include skull-shaped figures decorated with Swarovski crystals.
Hyperallergic has contacted Italian state law enforcement in Verona. Palazzo Maffei has not yet responded to Hyperallergic‘s request for comment.
In a video posted on the museum’s social media platforms, Director Vanessa Carlon called the tourists’ behavior “irresponsible” and the “nightmare of any museum.” The two responsible individuals had lain in wait until the gallery’s security officers left, Carlon said, and authorities were notified.
“We were truly worried it might not be possible to restore it,” Carlon said, “but the restorers did an outstanding job.”
Tourists have long made headlines for damaging or otherwise disrespecting Italian cultural heritage, including by carving initials into sites at Pompeii and making obscene gestures against a Bacchus statue in Florence. Italian authorities have sought to mitigate harms caused by overtourism with a number of measures restricting access to areas such as Pompeii and the city of Venice.
