A child has damaged a huge painting thought to be worth tens of millions of pounds in the Netherlands.
The abstract artwork, named “Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8”, by Mark Rothko was on public display in a storage facility next to the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam when it sustained “superficial damage”.
A spokesperson for the museum told Sky News that a child “touched the painting when it was on display”.
They added in a statement: “As a result, small scratches are visible in the unvarnished paint layer in the lower part of the painting.
“Conservation expertise has been sought in the Netherlands and abroad. We are currently researching the next steps for the treatment of the painting. We expect that the work will be able to be shown again in the future.”
The museum did not reveal how it much thought the painting was worth or the expected cost of any repair work.
Prominent Dutch art collector Bert Kreuk estimated three years ago that the painting would potentially sell for between €40m (£34m) to €50m (£42m), the Algemeen Dagblad news site in the Netherlands reports.
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A museum spokesperson also told the news service that the Rothko painting was damaged during an “unguarded moment”.
The abstract artwork had reportedly been the centrepiece of the museum before the building was closed for renovation.
The painting is therefore currently on display in a nearby art storage facility which contains the museum’s entire collection and is open to the public.
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Rothko was born in a part of Russia which is now Latvia in 1903 but moved to America as a child.
The artist, who died in 1970, was best known for his “colour field” paintings and many of his works have sold for tens of millions of pounds.
Rothko’s 1958 work, Black on Maroon was deliberately vandalised at London’s Tate Modern gallery in October 2012.
Wlodzimierz Umaniec was sent to prison for two years for the defacing the painting.
During his trial, prosecuting barrister Gregor McKinley said the cost of repairing the work would be about £200,000.
It took conservators 18 months to repair the painting.
