A man has been arrested after pink paint was thrown at a glass-covered Pablo Picasso painting at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA)Thursday morning.
The action was claimed by climate activist group Last Generation Canada, which shared photos of the smeared painting.
They say an activist threw washable paint on Picasso’s “L’Hétaire” around 10:30 a.m. A photo shared by the group also purported to show the activist speaking to museum security in front of the painting.
“The museum’s team responded quickly, and found no immediate signs of damage to the painting, which was safeguarded under protective glass. A thorough condition report is being executed,” the MMFA wrote in a press release Thursday afternoon.
Montreal police officers were called to the museum around 10:40 a.m., SPVM spokesperson Annie-Claude Racine told CityNews.
Racine said three people were detained on site, including the 21-year-old man who committed the alleged mischief. He was released from custody on a promise to appear in court.
Last Generation Canada says he was charged with mischief under $5,000.
Police say the two other people detained, who are said to have filmed and photographed the act, were let go.
The exhibition was temporarily closed to visitors, then reopened at 11:30 a.m.
“The work in question has been temporarily removed from display,” the MMFA said in their statement.
“The MMFA administration is deeply dismayed by this incident,” added Stéphane Aquin, director of the MMFA. “It is most unfortunate that this act carried out in the name of environmental activism targeted a work belonging to our global cultural heritage and under safekeeping for the benefit of future generations. Art is another powerful tool for social change. Museums and artists alike are allies in the fight for a better world.”
The climate activists say it was part of three weeks of activism that also saw the group spray-paint the Montreal casino pink last week.
The group is asking the federal government to create an agency dedicated specifically to climate disaster protection.
