art as no idea

Not a representation (anti-sexism archaeology), 2015

Damaging the Rokeby Venus

Damage done to the Rokeby Venus by Mary Richardson’s attack. The canvas was later fully restored.

An act of defiance by Richardson occurred on 10 March 1914 when she entered the National Gallery in London to attack a painting by Velázquez, the Rokeby Venus, using a chopper she smuggled into the gallery. She wrote a brief statement explaining her actions to the WSPU which was published by the press:

“I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the Government for destroying Mrs Pankhurst, who is the most beautiful character in modern history. Justice is an element of beauty as much as colour and outline on canvas. Mrs Pankhurst seeks to procure justice for womanhood, and for this she is being slowly murdered by a Government of Iscariot politicians. If there is an outcry against my deed, let every one remember that such an outcry is an hypocrisy so long as they allow the destruction of Mrs Pankhurst and other beautiful living women, and that until the public cease to countenance human destruction the stones cast against me for the destruction of this picture are each an evidence against them of artistic as well as moral and political humbug and hypocrisy.”

— ”Miss Richardson’s Statement”. The Times. London. 11 March 1914.

Wikipedia (retrieved on 2023/04/25)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Richardson