Man attacks £20 million Picasso painting at Tate Modern art gallery in London

A man named Shakeel Massey, 20 is accused of attacking a Pablo Picasso painting worth £20 million at Tate Modern in London. The man is being held by Metropolitan police until a pretrial hearing on January 30. After the incident, the venue has taken down the painting off the display while the damage is being assessed. A Tate spokesperson said that the painting is with their conservation team and is being assessed by experts. 

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Famous artwork painted in 1944

According to the museum, the oil painting named 'Bust of a Woman' depicts Marie-Therese Walter, who was Picasso's mistress at the time of its creation. The famous artwork was painted in 1944 in Paris during the final months of Nazi occupation. It is not yet clear as to why Shakeel attacked Picasso's painting in the museum. Shakeel is a resident of High Road, NW10, London and was denied bail when he appeared at Inner London Crown Court on Monday. 

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The painting was displayed at the Tate Modern museum that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, international modern and contemporary art. The museum is part of the Tate group and is based out of the Bankside area of the London Borough of Southwark. The museum was established in 2000 and is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the world. 

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Recently, Pablo Picasso's servant was convicted of stealing 271 rare artworks by famous artists. Picasso’s electrician has been held guilty for the third time as France’s top appeals court upheld the earlier jail sentence. Pierre Le Guennec and his wife Danielle had hoarded 271 artworks of the great painter in their garage for 40 years which was stolen. The recovered artwork includes six oils on canvas, nine rare Cubist collages, 28 lithographs, and sketchbooks dating between 1900 and 1932, with an estimated worth between $74 million to $98 million. 

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