A good week after the attack on a painting in Potsdam’s Barberini Museum, the show will reopen next week. The safety precautions are tightened again. A pane of glass had protected the famous work.
After the attack by climate activists on a Monet painting, the Barberini Museum in Potsdam reopened on Monday. The house, which mainly houses the valuable collection of art patron Hasso Plattner, has been closed since last Tuesday. Because of the attack, the museum wanted to advise on protecting the artworks. It is also about the current surrealism exhibition with works by Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst or René Magritte.
Museum director Ortrud Westheider said: “We are very happy to reopen the museum on Monday. The many expressions of solidarity over the past week have encouraged us in this decision and shown us how emotionally many of our visitors are connected to the house.” The painting by the French impressionist Claude Monet that was affected by the attack – the work “Getreidestack” from 1890 – has also returned to its place in the collection.
The security concept in the Barberini had been intensified, it said. In future, the exhibition rooms can only be visited after depositing jackets and bags in the cloakroom or in the lockers. According to the Museum Association, other museums in Germany also increased their security measures after the incident.
The disruptive action in the Potsdam Art Museum, which is run by the Hasso Plattner Foundation, caused a stir. Activists splashed mashed potatoes against Monet’s glass-protected painting last Sunday and then taped themselves. Climate activists were also targeting world-famous art in other museums, for example in London and the Netherlands.