A child made small scratches on Mark Rothko's painting *Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8* (1960) at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. The incident occurred in the museum's Depot, a publicly accessible storage facility, during an unguarded moment. The work sustained superficial but visible damage to its unvarnished paint layer, and the museum is consulting conservators within and outside the Netherlands for treatment.
The incident highlights the vulnerability of artworks in open-access storage facilities, which have become popular for increasing transparency but also introduce risks. The painting, valued at up to €50 million, underscores the high stakes of balancing public engagement with conservation. The museum has not disclosed repair costs or responsibility, but expects the work to be displayed again.