This morning's New York Times reports that "a visitor at an exhibition at the Royal Academy in London on Saturday slipped and fell into a nine-foot ceramic sculpture, smashing it into hundreds of pieces .... The damaged sculpture, ... valued at approximately $11,900, was part of an exhibition organized by the artist Tracey Emin." The Guardian's Laura Barnett has much more, including the following:
"Financial compensation is ... the main concern for artists, curators and owners when an artwork ends up smashed to smithereens. According to Robert Read, a fine art underwriter at the specialist insurers Hiscox, accidental damage accounts for between 50% and 60% of the claims the company handles each year. The vast majority of these arise ... following damage incurred while works are being moved or transported."
