Psychiatric patient arrested in slashing of Picasso painting
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Psychiatric patient arrested in slashing of Picasso painting
May 17, 1999
By William J. Kole, Associated Press
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch police questioned a mental patient
today
after he escaped from a psychiatric clinic, hopped a train to Amsterdam
and
severely slashed a famous Picasso painting in one of the capital's most
prestigious art museums.
The virtual destruction of "Woman Nude Before Garden,'' a 1956 oil on
canvas by
the abstract master, stunned the art world and the Stedelijk Museum of
Modern
Art, where another mentally disturbed man slashed a work by American
abstract
impressionist Barnett Newman in 1997.
"Everyone is very shocked. I find it horrible what happened, and I can't
believe it has happened again,'' said Saskia Bruines, Amsterdam's city
councilor for culture. "We must step up security. We must ask ourselves
what we
could be doing that we haven't already done.''
The Picasso, valued at between $5 million and $7.5 million, was slashed
Sunday
afternoon by a mental patient identified by Dutch police only as Paul G.
The
museum, which is insured for the damage, said restoration experts would
try
their best to repair the painting.
Amsterdam police spokesman Cees Rameau said the 41-year-old man had
escaped
earlier in the day from a psychiatric clinic in Utrecht, 45 miles
southeast of
Amsterdam. Officials said he was a top suspect in an incident at
Amsterdam's
Rijksmuseum 10 years ago, in which someone threw paint at another
unidentified
masterpiece.
The man has been under the supervision of the clinic since 1978, when he
tried
to hijack a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines jet from Amsterdam to Madrid using
a toy
gun. Passengers and crew members overpowered him and he was arrested and
convicted on assault charges.
Rameau said the man headed straight for the Stedelijk Museum, which has
a
world-class collection of modern art including five other Picassos,
bought a
ticket, went to the Picasso and used a small razor knife to carve a
large
circle out of the middle of the canvas.
He then went to the headquarters of Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf,
where
he boasted of his crime to a reporter. The newspaper called police, and
the man
was arrested in the lobby, where he allegedly threatened to kill the
journalist
in question, De Telegraaf reported today.
The Stedelijk Museum bought "Woman Nude Before Garden'' in 1981 for
$950,000.
The 51-inch by 64-inch painting, done in cool hues of blue and green,
depicts a
naked woman reclining in a chair in front of an open window with a lush
garden
in the background.
The model for the painting, which was done in Cannes, France, was
Jacqueline
Roque, Picasso's newlywed wife at the time.