A man who smeared paint on a sculpture display at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. in April 2023 was found guilty Monday of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and injury to the gallery’s exhibit.
According to U.S. Attorney for D.C. Edward Martin’s office, 55-year-old Timothy Martin, of Raleigh, North Carolina, and 54-year-old Joanna Smith, of Brooklyn, New York, entered the gallery with water bottles filled with paint, which they smeared on the case and base of Edgar Degas’ “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.”
The pair caused more than $4,000 in damage and the exhibit was removed from public display for 10 days for repairs, Martin’s office said in a news release. The sculpture’s materials include human hair, silk and linen ribbon that are more than 100 years old.
