Whoops! Toddler sends R724k insect sculpture flying at art fair

A three-year-old girl knocked Fliege (Fly) by German artist Katharina Fritsch off its plinth at Art Basel, a premier art fair in Basel, Switzerland.

According to Swiss news agency NAU, cited by The Art Newspaper, the toddler was wandering through the booth of the Matthew Marks Gallery when she accidentally bumped into Fritsch's plastic sculpture of a fly.

The artwork, reportedly estimated at around $50k (approx. R724k), fell from its pedestal and a wing fell off during the incident.

A spokesperson for Art Basel told The Art Newspaper that the fair organisers were "informed by the gallery that the work was not damaged."

This isn't the first time that a child has damaged an expensive artwork.

Last June, an American family's insurance paid out $107k (around R1.5m) after their five-year-old son knocked over a sculpture valued at $132k (about R1.9m) at the Tomahawk Ridge Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas. The piece, entitled Aphrodite di Kansas City, by area artist Bill Lyons, was reportedly damaged beyond repair.

The 2019 edition of Art Basel closed on June 16, with reports of overall attendance reaching 93k. This year, the Swiss art fair brought together 290 international galleries from over 80 countries.