About 12 years ago, when I was a youngster in the Registrar's Office in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a woman making a copy of a (Monet?)
painting in one of the Impressionist galleries got some of her own paint
on the original painting.  This caused a bit of an uproar and her copying
permit was permanently revoked, much to her consternation.  Her plaintive
argument was, "Surely these things happen!"

I'm afraid I do not remember other details very clearly.  Copyists were
supposed to work a certain distance from the originals -- perhaps it was
up to the security officers to enforce this.  I don't even know if the MMA
Registrar's Office still issues the copying permits and easels -- I would
think not, but who knows.

If you need more info about this incident, contact me off list and I'll
give you the name and number of some people still at the MMA who are
likely to remember.  Anne Douglas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anne Fuhrman Douglas                         email: [log in to unmask]
Registrar                                    phone: 919-966-5736
Ackland Art Museum                           fax:   919-966-1400
The University of North Carolina
Campus Box 3400
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3400
U.S.A.

On Thu, 20 Aug 1998, Holly Chase wrote:

> Can anyone tell me if they have heard or known of "accidents" that have
> occurred when a patron set up an easel and copied in oil paint an
> exhibited painting in the museum's gallery?