By Tim Binnall
An aspiring artist who worked for a museum in Germany may soon be of the starving variety after he was fired for surreptitiously placing one of his own paintings in a gallery of contemporary works. The weird incident, which came to light this week by way of a German newspaper, reportedly occurred in late February at the Pinakothek der Moderne in the city of Munich. Taking advantage of his role as a maintenance worker at the museum, the unnamed man slipped past unsuspecting security guards with his painting in tow and proceeded to hang it among various modern works of art.
Measuring approximately two by four feet, the unauthorized early-morning addition to the gallery was quickly noticed by museum staff, though they decided to wait until the site closed before they removed it from the wall. Police theorized that the brazen installation was done by the worker "in the hope of achieving his artistic breakthrough." Should that have been the case, a spokesperson for the museum offered a rather cruel assessment of the plan as they noted that "we did not receive any positive feedback" on the painting over the course of the eight hours it was on display.
With that in mind, one might be tempted to say that the man should probably not quit his day job, however such advice would be moot as he was promptly fired once he was identified as being responsible for the incident. Making matters undoubtedly all the more dispiriting for the armchair artist, the museum opted not to reveal his name nor the work itself as a means of dissuading any other starry-eyed individuals from trying to pull off similar schemes in the future.