The media get political over Poussin vandalism and museum entry charges

The media get political over Poussin vandalism and museum entry charges

20 July, 2011
by: Spoonfed Arts Team

Should museums charge for entry? A vandalised Poussin suggests maybe, although it depends on who you read...

The recent vandalisation of a much-loved painting by Nicolas Poussin at the National Gallery has sparked a vigorous debate on museum security, public trustworthiness, and whether major instititions ought to remain free to visitors.

At around 5pm on Sunday a visitor is reported to have walked up to Poussin's 1633-4 masterpiece, The Adoration of the Golden Calf [pictured above], and sprayed the canvas with red paint, before being arrested and escorted from the premises.

This prompted a Guardian blog post by art critic Jonathan Jones in which he criticised the apparently lax security at the National Gallery, who don't carry out routine bag checks on visitors. He described the painting as a “sitting duck” for those of a vandalising disposition, and went on, rather astonishingly, to say: “That cannot be allowed, and modern society cannot be trusted – there is too much craziness out there.”

In response to Jones' piece, Florence Waters argues in the Telegraph that such acts of vandalism are clearly the acts of loonies, unlikely to be “discouraged by a light fee and a queue”.

And so the UK media can position itself down political lines once more – the left demonstrating a fundamental mistrust of 'the people' and arguing for regulation, regulation, regulation, whilst the right focus on the rights and responsibilites of the indivual and arguing for a laissez-faire approach to intervention of any kind.

Spoonfed being very much non-political, we prefer just to sit on the fence.

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Spoonfed Arts Team