In recent months climate activists have been in a food fight with art museums across Europe. Their protests include throwing tomato soup at a van Gogh painting in London’s National Gallery and smearing cake on the protective glass over the “Mona Lisa.” Last week they threw mashed potatoes on the glass covering a Monet in a German museum. Aside from some minor damage to a few frames, none of the art has been harmed.
I used to work as a gallery attendant in a contemporary art museum before COVID-19 hit. My job was twofold: protect the art and answer people’s questions. But mostly protect the art. None of the pieces where I worked was behind glass; many were worth more money than a Los Angeles mansion. My fellow gallery attendants and I were the only things standing between the art and all the people who came to take selfies with the works.
During one of my first shifts, a co-worker told me not to spiral if anything happened under my watch because all of the art was insured. Often, when I was tired and bored out of my mind at work, I would think about how these paintings had better insurance than I did.
