Man kicks Old Master painting at Milwaukee Art Museum

Sunday, 08 April 2007 13:10

Milwaukee, WI - The 22-year-old Pewaukee man started kicking "The Triumph of David" by Ottavio Vannini as it hung on the wall in the museum's Early European Gallery, said David Gordon, CEO and director of the Milwaukee Art Museum.  Painted in 1640, the oil painting depicts the outcome of the biblical tale of David and Goliath, with David carrying the giant Goliath's severed head, Gordon said. 

"He was kicking it, aiming his blows at the head of Goliath, and then he pulled it off the wall and started kicking it," Gordon said.  "It happened very quickly.  We have guards constantly on patrol in the museum, and he obviously waited until the guard had passed through that gallery," Gordon said.

A museum employee and security guard tried to stop the man from kicking the painting, and eventually he quit striking it, took off his shirt and lay prone on the gallery's floor, Gordon said.

The man told police that the image of Goliath's severed head disturbed him.  Gordon said the man had a history of mental illness.  "He was being very calm and very polite (after the attack). . . .  By then we had a room full of guards and staff members, and he just lay there until police arrived," Gordon said.

The man was arrested and was being held at the Milwaukee County Jail, police said.  He could be charged with felony damage to property.  A charge of felony damage to property carries a maximum sentence of 3 ½ years in prison.

On loan from collection

The painting $300,000 was on loan to the museum from the Haukohl Family Collection, the largest collection of 17th-century Florentine art in America.  Mark Fehrs Haukohl, a Milwaukee native and art collector living in Houston, made the loan possible, a museum press release says.

The collection has been exhibited in museums all over the world, and the family has a history of supporting traveling exhibitions of Italian Old Master art in the United States, the release says.  The museum's insurance company has been contacted, and the painting will be examined by conservators to determine the best course of action, Gordon said.  Early indications are that the painting may be repairable, Gordon said.