After sneaking in one of his own paintings and hanging it up in the gallery, which houses famous pieces by well-known artists like Leonardo Da Vinci and Henri Mattise, a German art museum employee and budding artist hoping for a big break was fired.
In an attempt to achieve an “artistic breakthrough,” the 51-year-old worker at Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne bored two holes in the wall to hang his picture, officials informed the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung.
However, a museum representative stated that guards saw irregularities right away: “Supervisors notice something like this immediately.”
The individual identified himself as a freelance artist and worked for the technical services department of the gallery.
“The employee considers himself as an artist and most likely saw his role in the museum’s installation team as a day job to support his true calling,” a spokesperson for the Pinakothek told the Guardian.
On February 23, he mounted his 23 by 47-inch artwork in an unoccupied hallway; nevertheless, the incident was not made public until Monday.
Early in the morning, the painting was displayed, and shortly after the museum opened for business, employees noticed it.
“The decision was made to keep the picture on display while the gallery was open and take it down after its closing time at 6 p.m.,” the spokesperson said
The man lost his job and was barred from the gallery for life. The gallery is one of the biggest modern art galleries in Europe.
The purpose of the museum’s silence on the subject matter and style of the painting is to prevent “copycat pranksters.”
“All I can say is that we did not receive any positive feedback on the addition from visitors to the gallery,” the spokesperson said.
