18 months
November 21 2012
Picture: Guardian
That's how long it will take conservators at Tate Modern to repair the recent graffiti damage to Rothko's Black on Maroon. From the BBC:
Julia Nagle, a London-based independent paintings conservator, explained that repairing a painting such as Rothko's would be a lengthy process.
"Rothko is difficult in the sense that he painted using lots of different media, which narrows down the choice of solvents that can be safely used on his paintings," she told the BBC.
"Graffiti pens are made to work outdoors and survive rain and all kinds of things, so it's something that's quite noxious that has then gone right through the paint into the canvas below."
Meanwhile, the Polish pillock who did the damage is free on bail, having pleaded guilty to; 'criminal damage to property valued at over £5,000'.
The maximum penalty for this is ten years in jail. I don't mean to sound vindictive, but for the sake of unglazed art in galleries everywhere, this man needs to go down for a long time.
