{"id":853853,"date":"2026-06-08T23:44:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T23:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/853853\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T23:44:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T23:44:23","slug":"magritte-masterpiece-at-israel-museum-being-repaired-after-pinecone-puncture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/853853\/","title":{"rendered":"Magritte masterpiece at Israel Museum being repaired after pinecone puncture"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was an errant pinecone that punctured \u201cThe Castle of the Pyrenees,\u201d the famed Surrealist masterpiece by Ren\u00e9 Magritte that normally hangs in the Israel Museum\u2019s permanent collection gallery.<\/p>\n

A young boy was visiting the museum with his family several weeks ago when he idly pierced the canvas with a pinecone he picked up in the museum\u2019s sculpture garden.<\/p>\n

The painting was punctured in a matter of seconds, before a guard noticed what was happening, according to the museum staff.<\/p>\n

The piece is now being repaired and restored in the museum\u2019s conservation laboratory.<\/p>\n

Sharon Tager, who directs the museum\u2019s conservation laboratories department, told Ha\u2019aretz that the restoration process will take several weeks.<\/p>\n

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Tager explained that the canvas is mended and the layers of oil paint are then carefully treated to make it nearly impossible to detect that the painting was damaged.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tRene\u2019 Magritte, Belgian, 1898-1967
Le Chateau de Pyrenees (The Castle of the Pyrenees), 1959
Oil on canvas, 200 X 145 cm
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Gift of Harry Torczyner, New York
B85.0081<\/p>\n

Magritte\u2019s painting was not glazed or protected by an alarm, as the museum wants to preserve the viewing experience and allow visitors to get as close as possible to the artworks.<\/p>\n

In this case, however, one young visitor got a little too close.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Castle of the Pyrenees,\u201d depicting a large, castle-topped rock dangling in a blue sky over a churning sea, has hung in the Israel Museum since 1985.<\/p>\n

The painting started as a commissioned work, intended to cover the ugly view outside the New York City office window of the artist\u2019s esteemed friend, lawyer and art lover Harry Torczyner.<\/p>\n

The Belgian artist and his Jewish, Belgian-born friend and patron Torczyner met in 1957.<\/p>\n

Torczyner, who because of the Nazis fled Belgium for New York with his wife Marcelle Siva Torczyner, commissioned the Pyrenees castle as a rock of hope, topped with a castle.<\/p>\n

\u201cLONG LIVE MAGRITTE!\u2026\u2018The Castle of the Pyrenees\u2019 floats majestically and proudly. It is superb\u2026 and intact! The waves of the North Sea bring me fresh air and joy. For the moment, the painting is hanging on the wall, while a custom-made frame is being installed to cover the window,\u201d wrote Torczyner at the time.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tArt lover and lawyer Harry Torczyner with his commissioned Rene Magritte work, \u2018The Castle of the Pyrenees\u2019, now the subject of an Israel Museum exhibit, open through October 2022 (Courtesy Evi Musher Shechter)<\/p>\n

The painting remained in Torczyner\u2019s office for nearly two decades, removed only rarely to be displayed in exhibitions.<\/p>\n

In 1985,\u00a0 Torczyner decided to donate the work to the Israel Museum on the twentieth anniversary of its founding.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday The Castle of the Pyrenees is about to leave my office for Jerusalem,\u201d Torczyner wrote at the time. \u201cIt will make another voyage across time and space, as I have set for it a trajectory as necessary as the elements Magritte had deemed necessary for his painting. In Jerusalem, the Castle of the Pyrenees will join other magic rocks, towers and walls.\u201d<\/p>\n

And now, pinecones as well.<\/p>\n


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