National Gallery suffers second art attack

Susan Burns has twice attacked artwork in the National Gallery this year. But keeping art safe from vandals is harder than it looks.

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On Aug. 5, Susan Burns attacked “The Plumed Hat,” a painting by Henri Matisse. She slammed the painting, which is worth $2.5 million, against the wall three times, damaging the frame but not the painting.

Courtesy National Gallery of Art; Chester Dale Collection /

It wasn’t Burns's first incident at the National Gallery. On April 1, she was arrested for trying to rip the Paul Gauguin painting "Two Tahitian Women" off of the wall. According to court documents, Burns said she tried to tear down the painting because it was "evil." She was charged with attempted second-degree theft and destruction of property.

/ AP

Burns, shown here in her mug shot in April, is being held at St. Elizabeth’s, a psychiatric hospital.

Courtesy of Arlington County Police Dept. / COURTESY OF ARLINGTON COUNTY POLICE DEPT.

Merl Ross, a fan of painter Paul Gauguin, looks at an empty display where "Two Tahitian Women" was hung at the National Gallery in April. The 1899 painting showed no visible damage, but was removed from display for a few days so the museum could determine whether other damage was undetected.The painting turned out to be fine, but the original frame was damaged.

Linda Davidson / THE WASHINGTON POST

Two women look at an empty display of "Two Tahitian Women" at the National Gallery of Art in April. The painting was only protected by a velvet rope preventing visitors from getting too close.

Linda Davidson / THE WASHINGTON POST

A self-portrait of Paul Gauguin from 1885 is seen during a media preview showing of the “Gauguin: Maker of Myth” exhibit at The National Gallery.

MATT MCCLAIN

Devices like the Art Guard, which are not utilized by the National Gallery, can sound an alarm if artwork is lifted from its hook.

Courtesy Art Guard / Courtesy Art Guard

However, security systems such as Art Guard will utimately do little to deter a very determined vandal. “The National Gallery of Art has very sophisticated systems. But if you have something on exhibit, you have patrols going by, you have cameras looking at it and you have people monitoring the cameras, that is a real good effort at deterring attacks,” said Stevan Layne, who heads a cultural-property protection company and is a member of the International Foundation for Cultural Property. “But there’s no 100 percent guarantee.”

Courtesy Art Guard / Courtesy Art Guard

To truly protect art, it must be kept behind plexiglass, as the Mona Lisa is displayed at the Louvre. However, this protection comes at a detriment to the viewing experience, and is reserved for particularly valuable or attack-prone works. The Mona Lisa has been stolen once and attacked at least four times.

Francois Mori / AP

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