In view of the activists for the protection of the climate and the environment, several artworks, priceless, have been vandalized in recent months. During the last action to date, Thursday October 27, the pearl girl by Johannes Vermeer, who was attacked, in the Mauritshuis in The Hague.
“One person stuck his head to the painting, which was protected by glass, and the other stuck his hand to the wall where the painting hangs,” reported the Dutch establishment. Then a third person released an “unknown substance” on the web. However, the canvas, protected by a glass panel, was not damaged, the Mauritshuis museum said. Before that, grinders by Claude Monet in Potsdam in Germany, the sunflowers of Vincent Van Gogh at the National Gallery in London, and even Mona Lisa at the Louvre it had been the target of squirts of tomato soup, mashed potatoes, or even cakes.
A series of actions that raises the question of taking charge of the risk of degradation of works of art. In fact, in the event of alteration of these works, how would museums be compensated for their restoration and possible loss of value?
Vandalism included in insurance guarantees
As with any valuable object, there are insurance companies specialized in works of art that can be requested by both foundations and private and public museums. These specific offers theoretically insure against water damage, fire, flood, theft, and even acts of vandalism.
But the manager especially highlights the importance of the risk of degradation during the transport of the works.
The latter must be authorized to handle and pack these fragile objects.
Restoration and depreciation allowed
“In the event of an accident at a construction site, the insurer covers the restoration costs,” says Daphné de Marolles. At the end of this “repair”, an expert must determine if there is a depreciation of the work. “In this case, the company compensates its client for the loss of its value,” he specifies.
If the work is lost, on the contrary, the insurance bases its compensation either on the declared value of the thing, that is, determined on the day of the accident, or on its agreed value, determined at the time of signing the contract.
But these guarantees obviously come at a cost, to museums, in part related to the value of the insured collections. Thus, for temporary exhibitions, whose value is estimated at less than 1.5 million euros, museums can, for example, sign a standard contract with AXA XL. As for the exhibitions that house objects valued at more than 1.5 million euros, the insurer offers them a “tailor-made” and more expensive solution.
However, “the insurance premium paid by these clients each year is not linked solely to the value of the exhibited works”, emphasizes Daphné de Marolles. Other criteria are taken into account, such as the nature of the artworks and the way they are stored or displayed.
Less insured permanent collections
As for the permanent collections of museums, they can also be protected by this type of “tailor-made” contract. “But these subscriptions are rarer,” says Daphne de Marolles. Not only are the inventories not always exhaustive, which can complicate the estimation of the value of the works. But the budget that these guarantees represent for the institutions is also very large.
A painting like “The Mona Lisa” certainly seems “uninsurable”, since it is difficult to assess its value.
Auction houses, galleries and restorers are also underwriters of this type of insurance. For museums and institutions, AXA XL offers two different ranges of contracts, depending on the value of the goods in question (less than or greater than €500,000).
For private collectors, on the other hand, AXA applies fixed annual premiums. For an asset value between 0 and 200,000 euros, the premium is set at 500 euros. For goods estimated between 200,000 euros and 500,000 euros, the amount is doubled. “There is also a tailor-made solution for collections of more than 500,000 euros”, explains Daphné de Marolles.
Finally, natural persons, whose movable capital is less than 750,000 euros, can opt for a “boosted” all-risk home insurance contract.
Source: BFM TV
