Climate activists say that fossil fuels are the biggest threat to art and humanity, but climate activists are the ones threatening arts and culture with their antics, as evidenced by a recent incident at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Israeli media outlets have reported that a young child punctured René Magritte’s “The Castle of the Pyrenees” (1959) with a pinecone taken from the museum’s garden.
Missing from its permanent display for the last two weeks, the surreal painting, which depicts a craggy, castle-topped rock levitating in the sky over a crashing ocean wave, has been in the museum’s conservation lab to treat the pinecone puncture wound on the canvas.
“The first stage of the conservation process for Magritte’s damaged work is treating the substrate itself, since the hole created a dent,” said Sharon Tager, director of the Israel Museum’s conservation lab, in an interview with
Haaretz. “We first restore the substrate and canvas to their original level, then stitch it and treat the layers of oil paint.”
Tager said that this process will take several weeks because each step in the process requires professional consultation.
René Magritte's “The Castle of the Pyrenees” (1959) was removed from view to undergo restoration.
hyperallergic.com