The Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts unveiled its groundbreaking “Touch and Feel” exhibition last Tuesday, encouraging patrons to physically interact with priceless masterpieces for the first time in the institution’s 127-year history. Within four hours of opening, security guards had confiscated seventeen tubes of finger paint, removed a child’s crayon drawing from the side of a Monet, and discovered someone had attempted to “fix” a Picasso by rotating it to what they deemed the “correct” orientation.
“We thought we were revolutionizing the museum experience by breaking down barriers between art and audience,” said curator Margaret Thornfield, surveying the aftermath while a janitor attempted to remove mysterious sticky handprints from a bronze sculpture. “Apparently, when you tell people they can touch a $50 million painting, they interpret that as permission to see if it’s still wet.”
The exhibit’s most popular piece, Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” now features several visitor additions including what appears to be a smiley face drawn in the corner and multiple attempts to “help” by adding more stars using pocket lint. Museum staff report that one well-meaning patron spent twenty minutes trying to dust off a Jackson Pollock painting before realizing the splatters were intentional.
The museum has since modified the exhibit to include a new placard reading “Interactive Does Not Mean Destructive,” though officials report visitors are now asking if they’re allowed to hug the sculptures.
