A man has been charged with criminal damage after a £20m Picasso was allegedly attacked while on display at Tate Modern.
The 75-year-old oil painting was reportedly ripped on Saturday while the London gallery was open to the public.
Shakeel Ryan Massey, 20, from north-west London, appeared at Camberwell Green magistrates court on Monday charged with criminal damage. He indicated he would deny the charge.
The painting, Bust of a Woman, has been removed from display and is being assessed by conservation experts. Tate Modern declined to comment on the condition of the painting.
A spokesperson for the gallery said a member of the public had attempted to damage a painting, and a suspect had been “swiftly apprehended”.
The Metropolitan police said in a statement: “Detectives investigating an incident of criminal damage at the Tate Modern, Bankside, on Saturday 28 December have charged a man.”
Massey was denied bail and has been remanded in custody until a pre-trial hearing at Inner London crown court on 30 January.
Bust of a Woman was created in Paris in 1944 during the Nazi occupation. The semi-abstract work portrays the photographer Dora Maar, reportedly Picasso’s lover, sitting on a metal chair wearing a hat and green clothing.
Tate Modern is the most popular visitor attraction in the UK, welcoming almost 5.9 million people in 2018. It offers a number of free exhibitions and has an extensive collection of international artworks.
In 2012, a prized Mark Rothko painting was vandalised at the gallery, for which a man was sentenced to two years in prison. Vladimir Umanets wrote his name and a statement about the visual movement Yellowism on the painting, claiming it was an artistic act.
At London’s National Gallery in 1914, Velázquez’s Rokeby Venus was slashed by a suffragette, Mary Richardson, who was protesting against the arrest of Emmeline Pankhurst. The piece was restored and remains on display.
