An expensive brushstroke.
A South Korean couple inadvertently vandalized a work estimated at $ 500,000.
The painting in question, an abstract painting by American street artist JonOne, was on display in a gallery in a Seoul shopping mall.
Brushes and tubes of paint completed the installation.
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Taking this allegory of the artist's creative process for a public invitation to complete the work, the two lovers spread out three dark spots in the center of the canvas.
The scene was filmed by surveillance cameras and broadcast over the Internet.
"
They thought they were allowed to do it, thinking it was participatory art and made a mistake,
" Kang Wook, the exhibition's co-organizer, told Reuters.
"
We are currently discussing with the artist whether to restore it,
" he added.
As the
Korea Times points out
, the costs incurred in this case could be borne by the two budding painters, if the original author of the work initiates legal proceedings.
The American street art graffiti artist and painter, JonOne, here, posing for
Le Figaro
, in June 2017. Sébastien SORIANO / Le Figaro
Less than half an hour after the incident, the security services of the shopping center apprehended the couple, but the gallery did not wish to initiate a lawsuit, believing that it was indeed a mistake without back- criminal thought.
To prevent such a mistake from happening again, the exhibition organizers have however added a panel forbidding anyone to touch the work.