New York City I , one of Mondrian's last paintings, has been exhibited upside down since its creation. It is now impossible to put it back in the right direction, otherwise it will be damaged.
A painting by Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian has hung upside down for 77 years, reports The Guardian. The painting, entitled New York City I , will however continue to be hung like this, to avoid damaging it.
Made in 1941, New York City I is made from rolls of colored tape. This painting, one of its author's last, was exhibited at the MoMa in New York between 1945 and 1980.
The work has since joined the collection of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is exhibited in the Kunstsammlung museum in Düsseldorf.
"It was evident"
It was curator Susanne Meyer-Büser who spotted the error when preparing a new exhibition about the artist: "The part dense in paint, which looks like a dark sky, should be placed at the top", he said. she told the Guardian .
“Once I pointed it out to the other Tories, we realized it was obvious,” she added to the BBC . "It's very possible that this picture is hung in the wrong way."
Proofs
The curator cites several pieces of evidence to support her hypothesis. The painting New York City , produced by Mondrian in 1942, and very similar to New York City I , is notably exhibited at the Center Pompidou in Paris with the thick part at the top.
Susanne Meyer-Büser also cites a photograph from Mondrian's studio taken in 1944 a few days before his death. We see New York City I with the tight lines placed at the top. However, it is now impossible to hang it the right way round:
“The tapes have come loose a lot and they are hanging by a thread,” Susanne Meyer-Büser told The Guardian . "If we flipped the painting, gravity would tilt them in another direction. And that's part of its history now."
Jerome Lachasse - BFM TV
Art expert: https://www.vwart.com/