A René Magritte painting at the Israel Museum is under restoration after a young boy punctured it with a pinecone.
According to reports, the work was The Castle of the Pyrenees (1959), which Magritte made on a commission for his friend, lawyer Harry Torczyner, for his apartment. The work remained with Harry until 1985, when it was donated to the American Friends of Israel Museum. It has remained in the museum since then. The painting shows a castle on a giant rock floating in the sky.
Reportedly, a young boy visiting the Israel Museum with his family struck the painting with a pinecone, puncturing its canvas, before the guards could intervene. The work was moved to the conservation team, where it is under restoration. Sharon Tager, head of conservation at Israel Museum, said: “We’re experienced in conserving paintings and objects that arrive in poor condition, including works that have been stored since the Holocaust period […] The first stage is treating the base itself because the hole caused the canvas to sag. We first restore the canvas to its original level, then stitch it and treat the layers of oil paint.” It is estimated that the restoration could take several weeks.
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The damage occurred because the painting was not behind glass or other protective casing, and there were no alarms. According to Tager, this was not a lapse but rather intentional: “We generally try to avoid alarms because visitors want to examine artworks up close. That’s part of the museum experience. We look for other ways to protect objects, but there are limits.”
