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A Los Angeles museum Thursday expressed dismay over the accidental destruction of two pieces of art, one from the museum's own collection, at the Centre Pompidou in Paris during an exhibition on the southern California art scene.
"We are saddened that such a significant work of art in our collection has been destroyed," said Michael Govan, chief executive, and Wallis Annenberg, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in a statement.
The 1967 work of painted plexiglas by Craig Kauffman shattered when it fell off the gallery wall on July 16, one day before the closure of the "Los Angeles 1955-1985: The birth of an art capital," exhibition at the Centre Pompidou.
"We have informed the artist and are working closely with the Pompidou to investigate the cause of this accident and to recover the market value of the piece through insurance proceeds," the statement said.
The other piece was a 2.4-meter (eight-foot) resin bar by Peter Alexander dated 1971 and lent by the Franklin Parrasch gallery in New York. It was knocked over and smashed in March, before the exhibition opened.
The Centre Pompidou sent its "regrets".
"We confirm the two works by Craig Kauffman and Peter Alexander were destroyed, the first in plexiglas and the other in resin, experimental materials at the time and extremely fragile," the center told AFP.
"We express our deepest regrets. Since the creation of the center 30 years ago, such things have been extremely rare. A report is being prepared."
The Los Angeles Times, in an article titled "At Paris Exhibit, LA Art Is a Smash -- Literally," said French curators ducked blame.
"It's not our guilt," Catherine Grenier, curator of the show, told the newspaper.
tq/kd/pmh
AFPEntertainment-US-France-culture-arts
AFP 032153 GMT 08 06
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