Man accidentally smashes sculpture while taking selfie at museum

Updated

A trip to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., ended in disaster for an unnamed male tourist over the weekend, according to Hyperallergic.

The museum visitor was taking a selfie inside Yatoi Kusama's "Infinity Mirrored Room -- All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins" exhibit when he reportedly lost his balance, toppling onto one of the many polka-dotted gourds featured in the display.

Photos of the exhibit:

Allison Peck, the interim director of communications and marketing at the museum, told Artnet in an email that the installation, which had just opened on February 23, "sustained minor damage and the room was closed temporarily."

Let's just hope the museum has a lax 'you break it, you buy it' policy, because according to the Artnet Price Database, a similar sculpture of one of her polka-dotted gourds went for $784,485 at an auction in October 2015.

UPDATE:

A representative reached out to AOL.com to provide the following statement to clarify the actual cost of the damaged pumpkin:

"While one of the more than 60 pumpkins in Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirror room "All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins" suffered minor damage earlier this week, the comparison to the polka-dotted gourd, which sold for $784,485, is factually inaccurate as that was a standalone work whereas the individual pumpkins within the Infinity Room hold no intrinsic value on their own. The costs of replacing one of the pumpkins is negligible, and give the site-specific nature of the installation, which allows for reconfiguration, which the Hirshhorn has done in consultation with the artist, ensures that integrity and experience of the installation as a whole remains intact while the individual element is undergoing conservation."

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