Art Damaged

Albrecht Dürer "Mater Dolarosa" / sulfuric acid

In April 1988, this oil-on-panel painting, centerpiece of Dürer's "Seven Sorrows Polyptych" (ca. 1500), was damaged while on view at Munich’s Alte Pinakothek.

The work was one of three Dürer pieces targeted in a single day by the serial vandal Hans-Joachim Bohlmann, who ranks as one of the single most prolific (and destructive) art vandals in history.

In this case, he doused three works sulfuric acid, including Lamentation for Christ (1500) and Paumgartner Altar (1503). The resulting damage was estimated at €35 million. 

Artemisia Gentileschi "Mary Magdalen" (c. 1620) / blade

In April 2026, a fragmented canvas by Artemisia Gentileschi was put on sale by Vienna’s Dorotheum auction house. One of several iterations completed by the Italian Baroque painter, this version of "St. Mary Magdalen" is notable for having had a large portion of the canvas cut away.

The canvas was uncovered in 2011 after years spent rolled up in the cellar of a private collector in Germany; through infrared examinations of the work's pigments and evolution, it was confirmed to be an autograph replica of Gentileschi's best-known version of the piece, which hangs in the collection of the Palatine Gallery in Palazzo Pitti, Florence. However, in this case, the head of the work's subject had been cut out of the canvas under circumstances that remain unclear, although Dorotheum suggests it was probably linked to "the chaos and looting of postwar Berlin."

Buckminster Fuller "Fly's Eye Dome" / snow

In February 2026, this fiberglass outdoor sculpture was destroyed while on view at Long Island’s LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton.

The work collapsed under the weight of snow brought on by a historic blizzard that struck the East Coast. The piece is one of only five existing versions of Fuller’s original 1965 modular design, which took its cues from the structure of a fly's eye and was intended to serve as a self-sustaining dwelling that could be cheaply mass-produced and easily transported.

Nick Dwyer, numerous works from "Shadow Searching: ChatGPT Psychosis" / eaten by fellow student

In January 2025, an estimated 57 works from a set of 160 images were destroyed while on view at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The work in question was by an MFA student named Nick Dwyer, who had leveraged ChatGPT to generate a series of images that “explores identity, character narrative creation and crafting false memories of relationships in an interactive role digitally crafted before, during and after a state of AI psychosis.” (Dwyer has said that that he himself experienced this condition – defined by the Cognitive Behavior Institute as “individuals experiencing psychosis-like episodes after deep engagement with chatbots” – after working with AI for several years, and had intended his work to call attention to the dangers of this rapidly evolving technology.) The resulting images were printed out in a polaroid-style format and pinned to the university's art gallery.

However, on January 13, an undergraduate student named Graham Granger entered the exhibition, walked up to Dwyer's work, and began tearing pieces from the wall and chewing them before spitting them out - or, at various points, swallowing the remains.

Granger, who was detained on site, later told authorities it had been an act of protest against the use of AI in art.

Multiples works by Mariia Kulykivska / vandal

In December 2025, multiple works by the Ukranian artist Mariia Kulykivska were damaged while on view at a waterfront outside the Ukraine House in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The sculptures were part of an open-air installation of works from the artist's new sculpture series, "After Death Comes Life," the latest chapter in her ongoing project "My Body Is a Battlefield. Copenhagen." Exploring themes of war, vulnerability, and the bodily experiences of Ukranian women, the series features life-size figurative sculptures cast from the artist’s own pregnant body. The works contain elements like bullet casings, fragments of mines, and dried flowers from Ukrainian battlefields and fields, all intended as symbols of death and rebirth united a single form.

During daylight hours on December 22, an individual attacked several of the statues, toppling them from their pedestals onto the ground. Several figures were decapitated upon impact. Although the event was captured on surveillance video, the attacker remains unidentified.

Chen Sung-chih "Inverted Syntax – 16" / cleaner

In November 2025, this work was damaged while on view at the Keelung Museum of Art in Taiwan.

The work features a dust-covered mirror on a plain wooden board with mesh fabric lining the edges. The smudged reflection in the mirror was meant to symbolize "the imagery and cultural consciousness of the middle class" - but a volunteer cleaner, thinking the mirror was simply dusty, proceeded to wipe it down with toilet paper, removing 40 years' worth of buildup.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres "The Princesse de Broglie" & Girolamo dai Libri “Madonna and Child with Saints” // water

In November 2025, these works were damaged while on view at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

A 19-year-old Texan named Joshua Vavrin hurled water at the renowned centuries-old paintings and ripped two historic tapestries off the wall in what law enforcement called "a bizarre tantrum."

José Garnelo "First Tribute to Christopher Columbus"/ paint

In October 2025, this 1892 painting was attacked while on view at the Naval Museum in Madrid, Spain.

Two activists from the civil disobedience movement Futuro Vegetal threw biodegradable red paint at the work in an act of protest against the celebration of National Day, which they say symbolizes only "dispossession and collective suffering" for Indigenous peoples. According to a statement later from the climate group, the activists also carried a banner reading: "October 12, nothing to celebrate. Ecosocial justice."

The two activists were arrested on site; it's still unclear if or how badly the painting was damaged.

Johannes Vermeer "Young Woman Seated at a Virginal" / blade

In March 1968, this 1670-72 portrait was damaged while on view at the National Gallery in London. An unidentified individual used a blade - likely a razor - and attempted to remove the figure's head from the canvas, carving a circle roughly 10cm in diameter.

Strangely enough, it does appear that there was a gallery attendant on duty at the time of the incident - but unfortunately, they could only see ten of the 25 paintings on view in the gallery, as the works were displayed in bays and the attendants remained seated in place. In fact, the damaged artwork remained on view for several hours and was seen by numerous visitors before one eventually alerted museum staff to what had occurred. The painting was quickly brought to the museum's conservation studio, relined, and placed back on public view within three weeks of the attack - the canvas now reinforced with perspex.

Because there were no witnesses to the attack, which occurred before recorded CCTV facilities were available, the vandal was never identified and their motivation remains unknown, as does their reason for not completing the act - although it's been suggested that because Vermeer had been relined only three years earlier, the resulting extra thickness may have made it more difficult for the vandal to fully cut through the canvas.

Anton Domenico Gabbiani "Portrait of Ferdinando de’ Medici Grand Prince of Tuscany" / selfie

In June 2025, this 17th-century oil painting was damaged while on view at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.

Reports say an unidentified museum visitor ("an Italian of about 40 years old") tried to take a selfie with the work but leaned too far, losing his balance and sending elbow through the canvas.

The gallery's director quickly issued a statement, saying that he wanted to set " very precise limits, preventing behaviors that are not compatible with the sense of our institutions and respect for cultural heritage." He added: "The problem of visitors who come to museums to make memes or take selfies for social media is rampant."

Pablo Picasso "L’hetaire" / paint

In June 2025, this 1901 painting was attacked while on view at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Footage posted on social media by the climate activist group Last Generation Canada shows an individual (identified by the group as a 21-year-old named Marcel) hurling pink paint from a small container at the work before making a brief speech and being escorted out of the gallery by museum security.

“Today, I am not attacking art, nor am I destroying it," the individual wrote in the group's post. "I am protecting it. Art, at its core, is depictions of life. It is by the living, for the living. There is no art on a dead planet."

In their online statement, the individual also alluded to the city of Winnipeg, which is currently experiencing a record-breaking heatwave. “[W]ere I in Winnipeg right now, would I still be able to make art? Would I have the time, the energy, the resources? Or would I be too caught up in a fight for my survival and well-being, because my government refuses to protect its own people.”

Nicola Bolla "Van Gogh Chair" / tourist

In June 2025, this sculpture - a common chair adorned with hundreds of Swarovski crystals, meant to allude to a chair featured in one of Van Gogh's most famous pieces - was damaged while on view at the Maffei Palace in Verona, Italy.

As recorded on CCTV, a pair of visitors waited for security guards to leave the gallery before proceeding to pose with the sculpture. As the man takes the woman's photo, she leans in front of the the chair to create the illusion that she's sitting upon it - but upon switching positions, the man takes things a step further by sitting upon the piece, which immediately buckled under his weight. The woman helps him catch his balance, and the two quickly retreat from the gallery.

Officials from the Palazzo quickly took to social media, sharing footage of the pairs' actions, which they called “superficial” and “disrespectful": "Every museum's nightmare has become a reality... They ignored every rule of respect for art and cultural heritage."

Terracotta sculptures / domestic tourist

In June 2025, several ancient sculptures were damaged while on view at the Museum of the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang in Xi'an, China. Reports say a 30-year-old visitor abruptly leapt over guard rails and jumped nearly 18 feet to the enclosure below. Once there, he began pushing and pulling the priceless statues, resulting in visible damage to at least two figures.

Multiple works by Kamille Lévêque Jégo / vandals

In April 2025, an exhibition of works by Kamille Lévêque Jégo were damaged or destroyed while on view at Galerie NegPos in Nîmes, France.

The exhibition, titled "Cyprine Benzin," had featured a collection of photographic and video works depicting a “gang of girls” asserting their “flamboyant femininity." But less than a month after the show's opening, an unidentified perpetrator or perpetrators broke into the gallery overnight and destroyed more than 30 of the 40 works on view, throwing pieces to the floor and tagging the gallery walls and several prints with spray-painted phalluses and other "immature imagery" along the way.

(This was actually the second attack on the exhibited works; one week earlier, a window was forced open and one work was damaged by an intruder.)

Statue of Saint Anthony of Padua / restorers

In 2018, this 17th-century wooden statue was the victim of a botched restoration.

The work, installed in a church in Soledad, Colombia, had seen its surface worn away over time (including damage done by termites), so church officials commissioned a local artist to fix and repaint it.

When the work was returned, however, parishioners voiced their dissatisfaction with the results, as their patron saint had been rendered newly "effeminate," with Anthony receiving a pronounced facelift and both he and the baby Jesus now apparently sporting eye shadow, blush, and lipstick.

Mark Rothko "Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8" / child

In April 2025, this 1960 painting was damaged while temporarily on view at the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen during the renovation of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

According to a museum spokesperson, the painting sustained "superficial damage" when a toddler touched the canvas in an "unguarded moment." The resulting damage amounted to "small scratches" which are "visible in the unvarnished paint layer in the lower part of the painting."

As far as potential restoration, the spokesperson said, "We are currently investigating, in collaboration with experts, what the next steps for treatment are. We expect that the work can be shown again in the future."