Art attack: Famous works vandalised

The Dutch master’s painting – one of the most famous paintings at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam – has been vandalised three times.

The first attempt came in 1911, when a former navy chef attacked the piece with a knife, but failed to cut through the thick varnish.

Then in 1975, William de Rijk repeatedly slashed the painting. After claiming Jesus made him do it, the unemployed school teacher was sent to a psychiatric hospital. The painting was restored, but traces of the cuts still remain.

The work was vandalised again in 1990 when an escaped psychiatric patient sprayed it with sulphuric acid. Only the varnish was damaged after guards quickly diluted the acid with water, and the painting was restored again.

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The statue of the character from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale is a major tourist attraction in Copenhagen, Denmark.

However, after being vandalised numerous times since the 1960s, officials have considered moving it several metres offshore from the harbour protect it from the public.

It has been beheaded twice – first in 1964 and again in 1998 – with a failed attempt in 1990. The statue lost an arm in 1984, but it was returned two days later. In 2003, the mermaid was blasted off her base with explosives.

Paint has also been daubed on the figure a number of times. She was once draped in a burka and, in 2006, had a sex toy attached to her hand.

…versus: Vandalism of art

Rembrandt’s Night Watch (1642) is one of the most popular paintings at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It is viewed by about 4,000 to 5,000 visitors daily with its value estimated at $925,000 in the 1970s. The painting was vandalized on several occasions. On January 13, 1911, an unemployed navy cook tried to cut it with a knife, but could not cut through the thick varnish on the painting.[9][10]

In 1975, William de Rijk, an unemployed school teacher, cut dozens of zigzag lines in the painting with a knife before he was wrestled by the guards. The day before, de Rijk had been turned away from the museum because he arrived after closing time. After the event, he was identified with a mental disorder; he was sent to a psychiatric hospital and committed suicide there on April 21, 1976. The painting was restored, but traces of the cuts still remain.[10][11][12] In 1990, a man threw acid on the painting. The guards managed to quickly dilute it with water so that it penetrated only the varnish layer, and the painting was restored again.[10][13]

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The main focus of vandalism for the statue has been decapitation. On April 24, 1964, the statue’s head was sawn off and stolen by politically oriented artists of the Situationist movement. The head was never recovered and a new head was produced and placed on the statue.[14] On January 6, 1998, the statue was decapitated again;[15][16] the culprits were never found, but the head was returned anonymously to a nearby TV station, and re-attached on February 4.

On the night of September 10, 2003, the statue was knocked off its base with explosives and later found in the harbor’s waters. Holes were blasted in the mermaid’s wrist and knee.[17]

Paint has been poured on the statue several times, including one episode in 1963 and two in March and May 2007. On March 8, 2006, green paint was poured over the statue and a dildo was attached to its hand.[14][15][15]