Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Eleanor Gordon-Smith

A canvas was damaged as I helped a friend move. She’s asked me for $1,200. Should I end the friendship?

A man and woman in an art gallery
‘I was probably helping for 10 hours. She had a lot of pictures and art to move.’ Painting: Gallery of the Louvre, 1833, by Samuel FB Morse. Photograph: Granger/Historical Picture Archive/Alamy

I helped a friend move house 18 months ago. We’ve known each other for more than a decade and helped each other out on numerous occasions, and this was no different. I was probably helping for 10 hours. She had a lot of pictures and art to move. She’d already hired removalists but these things hadn’t gone with them. So I loaded a lot of them into my station wagon laid flat.

Unfortunately, one of the canvases was damaged in transit. I’d actually forgotten about this until I was visiting her recently, when she told me that she got a quote to repair the canvas and that we could split it, paying $1,200 each. I asked her what the canvas was worth and she told me it was beside the point – this canvas belongs to her son, who lives in Germany, and it’s very special to him.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.