In Germany, a museum worker was fired for an audacious act

51-year-old employee did a little damage to the museum/Johannes Haslinger

The Pinakothek of Modern Art received a new addition to its collection – albeit unknowingly, unintentionally and only for a short time. There, an employee of the Museum of Modern Art carried one of his own paintings into the building and hung it on the wall.

The 51-year-old man worked in technical services and called himself a freelance artist. According to the police, he hoped that this action would be his artistic breakthrough. He also had access to the exhibition halls during non-working hours and probably did not notice anyone when he hung the painting, Sued Deutsche writes. hung on the wall. However, the Pinakothek suggests that not too long.

Supervisors immediately notice something like this,
says press secretary Tine Nehler.

The painting was removed and, as Nehler suggests, returned to its author. What was depicted on it, the press secretary does not know.

Now the police is conducting an investigation – albeit a fairly minor offense, namely damage to property. The man drilled two holes in the empty wall in the passage, otherwise he cannot be accused of criminal behavior.

Man decided to hang his painting in the gallery/Photo by freepik

However, this act had consequences for the man: he was banned from being in the premises, given leave, and his employment contract was terminated for by agreement of the parties.

A similar incident happened in Bonn just a few weeks ago: a student brought one of her own paintings to the Bundeskunsthalle and attached it to the wall with double-sided tape. It is interesting that this was not noticed – only when the exhibition was dismantled did it become clear that the painting remained.

The Kunsthalle reacted with humor: “We find it funny and would like to meet the artist. So contact us! There will be no problems. Word of honor,” they wrote on X.

I wonder if our hero would have been fired if he had chosen double-sided tape instead of nails? We will probably never find out.