A famous painting by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian has been making waves in the art world as it emerged the painting has been hung upside down for the past 77 years. The artwork, named New York City I, was created in 1941 and it has been displayed in prominent galleries around the world since 1945, but in all that time no one noticed it had been hung incorrectly.
The design is made up of yellow, red, and blue stripes that cross against each other and intersect white spaces in the background, but noticeably the lines are much thicker at the bottom, or top, depending on how you hang it. Now a curator has noticed the error, but said it's been upside down for so long that it's too late to turn it round.
What do you think about the painting? Let us know in the comments...
Art curator Susanne Meyer-Bueser said: "I can't tell you how that happened - that will probably remain an everlasting mystery of history.
"But we know from photographs from that first time this artwork was exhibited at MoMA was in 1945 and it was already upside down back then."
The artwork was first displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1945, and it now hangs in in Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen art collection in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Susanne realised the painting was upside down after finding a picture of Mondrian's studio and her eye was drawn to the artwork.
She instantly recognised its vibrant colours and design, but something was off - then she realised, the artist had placed the painting the opposite way round to how it was displayed.
She continued: "We are not going to turn it around.
"That's not possible for various reasons. Above all, due to conservation reasons, because there are adhesive strips and these adhesive strips have been hanging in the same direction for 77 years.
"This means that the material's ability to remember works against it. If we were to turn it over, it could be that the adhesive strips would come loose, and then we would no longer have a beautiful picture."
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at yourmirror@mirror.co.uk
