A woman who lost her balance and tore a hole in a Pablo Picasso painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art likely cut the $130 million painting's value in half, a top appraiser said yesterday.
Conservators said they will be able to fix the 6-inch tear in "The Actor" (above), but appraiser Gerard van Weyenbergh said the painting may never recover its value.
"It's a 50 percent loss of the value -- at least," van Weyenbergh, who has handled numerous Picassos, told The Post. "When an artwork comes up in auction, that's the first thing people want to know -- were there any repaints or restorations.
Isn't it crazy to think that an accidental fall could cost $65 million? Imagine if we lived in a society that would hold you accountable for that. People involved in car accidents are still made to pay, what if the same rules applied here? That would be the fastest way to go bankrupt ever.
A woman who lost her balance and tore a hole in a Pablo Picasso painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art likely cut the $130 million painting's value in half, a top appraiser said yesterday.
Conservators said they will be able to fix the 6-inch tear in "The Actor" (above), but appraiser Gerard van Weyenbergh said the painting may never recover its value.
"It's a 50 percent loss of the value -- at least," van Weyenbergh, who has handled numerous Picassos, told The Post. "When an artwork comes up in auction, that's the first thing people want to know -- were there any repaints or restorations.
Isn't it crazy to think that an accidental fall could cost $65 million? Imagine if we lived in a society that would hold you accountable for that. People involved in car accidents are still made to pay, what if the same rules applied here? That would be the fastest way to go bankrupt ever.
