Fame at all costs. An employee of the Munich Art Gallery, one of the most important museums of its kind in Europe, took advantage of his privileged access to the institution to exhibit his own painting. The facts date back to February 23, the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung tells us, information relayed by Le Parisien.
Aged 51, the man who describes himself as an independent artist, worked in the technical department of the museum. Being able to access the exhibition rooms outside opening hours, he was able to introduce his work without being noticed. With this gesture, he hoped for an artistic breakthrough, according to the authorities.
Although museum staff quickly noticed the deception, a decision “was made to keep the painting on display while the gallery was open and to remove it after closing time at 6 p.m.,” said a museum spokesperson. word from the Bavarian institution to the Guardian.
In any case, the employee was immediately fired and prohibited from accessing the premises. The museum also filed a complaint for “intentional property damage,” a relatively minor offense, with the budding artist having drilled two holes in the gallery wall to carry out his offense. An expensive price paid for a painting measuring 60 by 120 centimeters which “received no positive feedback from visitors”, according to the museum spokesperson. As for the quality of the work, the Pinacothèque declared, again to our colleagues at the Guardian, that it would not make any comment on the subject so as not to “encourage copycat pranksters.”
