Nicola Bolla is an Italian artist whose signature style appears to be bedazzling objects with Swarovski crystals. And when I say “bedazzle,” I mean completely covering the item in question. He did this to a toilet, I sh-t you not. So one of his sparkly sculptures was on display in Palazzo Maffei, a museum in fair Verona, where we lay our scene. The title of the piece was “Van Gogh,” and it was a bedazzled chair. What’s in a name? Apparently, it’s an homage to van Gogh’s painting of a chair. (Please, like we don’t know Vincent was a rhinestone queen.) The chair artwork was on a pedestal, but not otherwise protected from viewers, other than a placard that said “Do Not Touch.” And guess what? Someone touched. It was actually two visitors, and by “touched,” I mean they took turns SITTING on the chair. And as it turns out, by “chair,” I mean a structure Bolla built himself that’s mostly held together with foil. Although this happened in April, Palazzo Maffei has only just released the video, to which I say, grazie mille.
Footage released by the Palazzo Maffei, in Verona, shows a man and woman taking pictures of each other while pretending to sit on the so-called “Van Gogh” chair.
The man then appears to slip and fall onto the chair, crushing it underneath him.
Officials have since notified police about the pair, who have not been identified.
“Sometimes we lose our brains to take a picture, and we don’t think about the consequences,” says museum director Vanessa Carlon.
“Of course it was an accident, but these two people left without speaking to us — that isn’t an accident,” she adds. “This is a nightmare for any museum”.
The BBC understands this incident happened in April. Palazzo Maffei released the footage on 12 June.
The chair was built by Italian artist Nicola Bolla and is bejewelled with Swarovski crystals made from polished, machine-cut glass. It is named after Vincent van Gogh as a tribute to the Dutch artist’s painting of a simple chair.
Bolla’s piece is somewhat priceless, in that the museum declined to provide an estimate of its value when asked by the BBC.
Carlotta Menegazzo, an art historian based at the Palazzo Maffei, says that — while it looks sturdy — its frame is mostly hollow and kept together with foil.
“On the chair was a note warning people not to touch, and of course it is placed on a pedestal, so it’s quite clear it’s not a real chair,” says Ms Menegazzo.
Two legs and the main seat were broken, but Ms Menegazzo says “a great job” has been done to restore the piece and it is now back in place.
The Palazzo Maffei opened in 2020 and has 650 pieces on display, including paintings by Picasso and ancient Egyptian art.
Ms Carlon says the majority of visitors are considerate, and she hopes this release of CCTV footage won’t become a “negative episode”.
Instead, she wants to highlight that “anyone should enter art places, or museums or churches, wherever art is displayed, in a more respectful way”.
“Art must be respected and loved because it is very fragile,” she adds.
Che pazzo! All of it! Every aspect of this story is insane to me, yes starting with the fact that covering a chair in Swarovski crystals is considered museum-worthy. I know art is subjective, but come on. Ancient Egyptian works. Picassos. Bedazzled chair. Then there’s the title, “Van Gogh,” — it’s just an attention grab, right? But putting those points aside, my incredulity next turns to the artwork chair not being properly protected, including by humans. The museum really had no one on the floor guarding the exhibits? Shouldn’t someone have heard the chair collapsing? If a bejewelled chair falls in the gallery, and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound? But of course the craziest part of all this, is the couple taking turns sitting on the damn chair! I agree with the museum director that the only thing worse than breaking it was their scurrying off instead of fessing up. So even though I do not have the highest opinion of this particular artform (as with many pieces these days), please folks, let’s be decent and not touch what isn’t ours. Other than that, all I can say is that I hope Bolla’s Swarovski-clad toilet goes on a date sometime with Maurizio Cattelan’s golden toilet. Also, this line was wry perfection: “Bolla’s piece is somewhat priceless, in that the museum declined to provide an estimate of its value when asked by the BBC.”
photos and videos via Instagram and Twitter/Palazzo Maffei