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Confused Cleaner Scrubs 'Stain' Off $1.1M Sculpture

Kippenberger work damaged beyond repair: museum

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 4, 2011 1:21 PM CDT

(Newser) – She thought she was just doing her job; instead, she was forever altering a $1.1 million artwork. A cleaner in a German museum spotted what she thought was an unintended stain on a sculpture and decided to wash it off. The piece by the late Martin Kippenberger, “When It Starts Dripping from the Ceilings,” is a wooden structure with a bowl underneath.

The bowl is painted to appear discolored by dripping water. The cleaner made short work of the paint job, the Telegraph reports. “It is now impossible to return it to its original state,” says a museum rep, noting that cleaners are not supposed to come within 8 inches of a work. The piece will, however, remain on display, the AP notes.

"When it Starts Dripping from the Ceiling," by German artist Martin Kippenberger, in the Ostwall museum in Dortmund, western Germany. (AP Photo/dapd/Mike Siepmann)

The base of the sculpture. (AP Photo/dapd/Mike Siepmann)

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 18 comments

Bundy714

Nov 7, 2011 5:02 AM CST

The real story is how did they ever convince anyone that this was "Art", much less art worth over a million dollars? I mean seriously, if this was in your yard (who would bring it inside?), how long before the city threatened to fine you if you didn't haul off this eyesore of debris? It's just like the story of the Emperor that wore no clothes, because someone claimed that this pile of junk was a brilliant work of art, no one has the courage to disagree, for fear that they will be considered unsophisticated. It's a pile of junk, and it's an eyesore. I bet even art critics would not consider this as anything other than a pile of junk, if no one told them it was a valuable piece of art first. What a scam.

submarinesoup

Nov 5, 2011 3:07 PM CDT

That pile of popsicle sticks is worth $1.1m? To who?

Naked_Emperor

Nov 5, 2011 2:43 PM CDT

So what did she use to get the stain out?

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Confused Cleaner Scrubs 'Stain' Off $1.1M Sculpture

Kippenberger work damaged beyond repair: museum

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

art museum • Germany • art • cleaning • strange stuff

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