Student jailed for damaging £20m Picasso painting at Tate Modern
A young man who damaged a Pablo Picasso oil painting at the Tate Modern has been jailed.
Shakeel Massey, 20, damaged the 1944 painting Bust of a Woman, reportedly valued at £20m, while it was on display in the central London galley in December 2019.
The Tate said it was painted during the Nazi occupation of France in the Second World War.
Court told, experts say, it could take up to 18 months to repair. Shakeel Massey has no previous convictions. Upon arrest, Mr Massey told police “it’s a performance”. Bust of a woman is owned by a private collector, but has been on loan to Tate Modern since 2011. pic.twitter.com/YpbZiMWVTE
— Sangita Myska (@BBCSangita) August 25, 2020
Made in Picasso’s studio at Rue des Grands-Augustins in Paris, it depicts fellow artist and photographer Dora Maar, wearing a green dress, in a semi-abstract style.
Massey, of Willesden Green, north-west London, admitted one charge of criminal damage following the incident and was jailed for 18 months at Inner London Crown Court.