The Pinakothek der Moderne has gained new additions to its collection – but unknowingly, unintentionally and only for a short time: an employee of the Museum of Modern Art smuggled one of his own pictures into the house and hung it up.
The 51-year-old man worked in technical service and describes himself as a freelance artist. According to the police, he hoped that the action would be his artistic breakthrough. He also had access to the exhibition rooms outside opening hours and probably no one noticed him when he put up the picture.
It is unclear how long the painting – it was 60 by 120 centimeters in size – hung on the wall. But the Pinakothek assumes that it wasn’t too long: “The supervisors notice something like this immediately,” says press spokeswoman Tine Nehler. The picture was taken down and, Nehler suspects, returned to its creator. The speaker does not know what it represented.
Now the police are investigating – but for a relatively minor offense, namely damage to property: the man had drilled two holes in an empty wall in a passageway, otherwise he cannot be accused of criminal behavior.
The action still has consequences for the man: he was banned from the house and released; the employment relationship was terminated by a termination agreement.
A similar incident happened just a few weeks ago in Bonn: a student smuggled one of her own paintings into the Bundeskunsthalle and attached it to the wall with double-sided adhesive tape. Unlike in Munich, the increase was not noticed at first – it was only when the exhibition was dismantled that it was noticed that one picture was surplus. The Kunsthalle reacted with humor: “We think this is funny & would like to get to know the artist. So get in touch! There will be no trouble. Word of honor,” they write on X.