E ight oil paintings on exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria were scratched with what was believed to be a 20 cent coin while another was punctured with a suspected ball point pen in an attack that authorities believed may be related to the theft of Picasso's Weeping Woman 2 years prior.
The paintings were reported to include William Buelow Gould's Still Life With Rabbit; Abram Louis Buvelot's Between Tullarook and Yea; Noel Counihan's At the Corner of Nightingale Street; Bernhard Hall's Asia and three unnamed works by Albert Tucker. None of the other works were named in the reports and all were said to be repairable.
The incidents, much to the suprise of authorities went unnoticed by both security guards and security cameras.
The attack, although pronounced "senseless and malicious" by Dr Rodney Wilson, the director of the gallery at the time was rather benign, damaging only the backgrounds of the paintings, subsequently making restoration easier. "It looks like someone who didn't want to do irreparable damage to the painting but wanted the publicity."[1] Dr Wilson said. This apparent respect for the art was one of the reasons that caused authorities to draw a link between this attack and the Picasso theft.
Like the Picasso case, a man called a media organisation and claimed responsibility for the attack. However, in the vandalism case his reasoning was not reported, perhaps to defer any intended publicity of the actions and the mans cause.
In August 1986 The imagination of Australias media was captured along with Picasso's Weeping Woman when a man telephoned a media outlet and a ransom note was delivered to newspapers and a tv station from the Australian Cultural Terrorists (ACT). The note threatened the destruction of the work unless the Arts Minister increase arts funding by 10 percent and implement a number of art prizes each worth $5,000 for Victorian artists under the age of 30.
In the ensuing weeks an arts group in Adelaide was investigated after a television station was given a tip off that the original work would be exhibited alongside 18 copies of the Weeping Woman in a group show. A flurry of calls rang in to the media after they released identikit make-ups of the 3 surly looking suspected cultural terrorists, and police even claimed that the painting may not have even left the building and could be hidden in a deep dark recess of the gallery. In addition to this, the gallery in an attempt to boost security standards took away the chairs of museum security who then went on strike for a day, demanding their chairs be returned.
It was announced soon after that a Melbourne company would sponsor two prizes for young Victorian artists. In what was described as a purely coincidental move, the art prizes would award $5,000 to Victorian artists under the age of 30 mmimicking part of the demands of the ACT. Both the director of the company and the director of the gallery said that while this had nothing to do with the demands made by the ACT, that they would be most pleased if this caused them to return the work.
Again a note was delivered to the media saying "Thank you for your support. Phase two begins shortly.". Enclosed in the envelope was a burnt match. Speculation ensued that they were readying themselves to burn the painting, however weeks later an anonymous caller directed authorities to the undamaged Picasso in a Spencer Street Train station Locker in Melbourne.
The Australian Cultural Terrorists were never found.
[1] Nine Oils in National Gallery Hit by Vandals
Paul Conroy; The Melbourne Age , August 15, 1988
Vandal Link to Picasso Theft
Greg Mayfield; The Sun , August 15, 1988
Art Thieves Renew Threat
The Daily Sun , August 12, 1986
Interstate 'Tip' On
Bill Ayres; The Herald , August 12, 1986
Art Prizes Offered After Picasso Theft
The Courier Mail , August 9, 1986
Nine Oils in National Gallery Hit by Vandals
Paul Conroy; The Melbourne Age , August 15, 1988
Vandal Link to Picasso Theft
Greg Mayfield; The Sun , August 15, 1988
Art Thieves Renew Threat
The Daily Sun , August 12, 1986
Interstate 'Tip' On
Bill Ayres; The Herald , August 12, 1986
Art Prizes Offered After Picasso Theft
The Courier Mail , August 9, 1986
The Andres Serrano Controversy
Rita Piteri
Art as a Useful Tool
Ron Brunton; Courier Mail, 25 October 1997
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