NPR on Damaged Met Picasso “The Actor”

Obviously the folks at NPR are having a little fun in the radio segment above. And Sarah Thornton does a good job of playing along. But the premise of the bit–that the Met’s damaged Picasso was worth $130m before the accident but now has lost value–is a sad and troubling consequence of the accident. Troubling because the only way the media seems to have to convey the importance of the painting is to cite a fictitious and irrelevant number.

The damage to The Actor doesn’t effect the historical value of the painting. It’s a conservation issue, not a market one.

Will Damaged Picasso Be Worth As Much? (Morning Edition/NPR)